ON THE LAND.

Northern Advocate, 22 August 1924, Page 2

ON THE LAND.

FACTORS IN MANURING

EIGHT AND WRONG WAYS

Manuring is a good business proposition provided it is done in the right •way and the manures used arc given :i chance to act. The purpose of fertilisers is to increase the yield of tht crop over and above -what the unaided soil "will give, but they must not bo expected to do impossibilities; but they do not produce their full effects, i even if they act at all, unless the other conditions allow the bigger crop to materialise. The soil may be likened to' a tank, one side of which is built of wooden staves; it is impossible to fill the tank with water above the level of the lowest stave, and no amount of trouble in increasing the others will be of use. So in the , case of the soil; the fertility level can bo raised only by raising the lowest fac,tor; it is useless to spend money on fertilisers if the land is too dry, if ! it needs draining, or if it is sour and needs liming. The profitable use of fertilisers implies also a sufficient level of labour efficiency per acre to ensure good cultivation and to keep down weeds. No fertiliser is discriminating in its action; it nourishes crop and weeds alike. Also, no fertiliser can take j t'hc place of good cultivation, in all . British fertiliser experiments it is assumed that the cultivation is as good as can be given, otherwise the result must always be doubtful. These important facts enable us to account for the different rates at which fertilisers are used in different parts of the Empire and of Eiivope. The heaviest consumption per ;icve in J Europe, and almost the heaviest in i the world, is in the smaller countries — I Belgium and Luxembourg —where tne settlement on the land is very '-lose, where there is a high degree of efficiency in cultivation, and where the water supply and temperature allow of larger crop growth than the unaided soil could produce, (loimany stands high because of much labour expended per acre. Oreat Britain stands lower in consumption of artificial iVitilisers; but a- great deal of our manuring is done throng'! , , animals by th , . 1 ■ agency of imported feeding stuffs: tlu j total consumption, when this is taken I into account, is high. When compared with the home consumption, t'he

amounts used in the, Kmpire arc much lower. But tins docs not mean :i lower standard of funning ideals or a lesser appreciation of what fertilisers eau do, or better or worse business ability; it simply means that crop yields are limited by some fa .'tor other t'lian tli ■ • supply <>f plant food. In .some cases the limit is set by water supply. in others by ten! l ■■ , i , iit\irc, elsewhere, again, by the nature of the soil, and in many cases by the scarcity of labour for cultivation. From the business point of view i: is necessary to distinguish two kinds of manuring—t'liut which :;ives t> immediate return. hi the shape of in creased crops, and that which does not give ail the return at once, but mai'itains the soil in a good productive state, or even improves it. In tinios of distress the tendency is to use only manures that pay immediately, and !•> disregard t'he second kind. There may, of course, be no help for this; but tlie fertility of the land should always i>? maintained, and this need not be a costly business. There is, however, no special virtue in a slow-acting manure; it represents money locked up and giving" no .satisfactory re)urn.