FERTILISER TRIALS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 19 August 1933, Page 11

FERTILISER TRIALS

EFFECT OF POTASH “.Potash in Pasture Trials” was the subject of a short paper delivered to the New Zealand Grassland Association by Mr L. Napier, of Pacific Potash, Ltd., Auckland (reports the Christchurch “Times”). He said that even in the troubled state of the world to-day scientists in many lands were delving from every angle into the problems connected with fertilising, and therein, at least, lay hope of progress. Mr Napier said, that of the several elements of growth generally employed in fertiliser trials, potash was probably the most difficult to evaluate in effect. The high power of absorption of potash possessed by most soils must always be a factor. It was common enough to find potash-treated pasture, which to the closest human observation presented no special feature, heavily grazed in a fashion which irresistibly’ suggested a strong predilection on the part of the animal. That might he due to a taste-difference, or again to an instinct which informed the beast that pasture with a high potash content was of special value to it in its productive processes.

Some day it would no doubt be possible to arrange comprehensive pasture trials in New Zealand specially designed to trace the real effect of applied potassium on a wide variety of soils That research might be approached through live weight comparisons of lambs and calves, a systematic record of herd-grazing days, or combinations of those over a term of years.