WESTFIELD MANURE WORKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8581, 1 June 1891, Page 6

WESTFIELD MANURE WORKS.

Parties travelling along the Auckland and Waikato railway must have noticed a iuge pile of buildings situate between . Penrose and OtahuhuJ on' -margin of the Manukau waters. 'Part of these buildings belong to the Auckland Soap and Tallow Company, part to the Freezing Company, bub the s greater. 1 portion :to the New Zealand _ Drug Company i(Kempthorne, Prosser, and Co.) Here it is that they manufacture sulphuric ; acid; ammonia, copperas, and other; chemicals an cHi here .git. ?is % also that they manufacture their - bone manures, superphosphates, and other fertilisers, for which : their factory has become so celebrated;'; and which are having an increasingly large demand by the farmers of Auckland, Wailiato, and other centres. ' . Mr. R. Dick, the presiding genius of this establishment, if an expert in agricultural chemistry, and -was for. a number of years manager of the Belfast manure works in Christchurch. He has. now had the supervision of' the Westfield Works for some eighteen months, and it goes without sayir.o- that the nuccess of the Westfield manure venture has been mainly brought about through his knowledge and skill in the manufacture and manipulation of the fertilisers, now being turned out in such immense quantities. ' , As showing what c the \Westfieldt factory is doing in the way of providing farmers with first-class unadulterated . manures, I may state that the output from January, 1890, to the same month in 1891 was no less than a total of 2200 tons of the different | fertilisers, bonedust having the greatest run. Since the beginning of this year orders have pouted in, and have been supplied, at a rate approaching, 2500 tons per. year, and Mr. Dick expects, at a not very distant date, as the manures become more widely known and appreciated, that sales will reach an aggregate of 3000 tons per annum., JSo that ,the business may- be' regarded so far a success, as well as a boon Ito agriculturists; for is it not a boon to be able to get pure, guaranteed fertilisers, without admixture of sand, clay, shells, and ac a reasonable price, with' the assurI ance that, provided soil is suitable. and i weather propitious, such fertilisers will prove a healthy stimulus to the land, vastly, i increasing the. various crops to which they may bo applied ? I Such a large output demands, of course, a regular and corresponding supply of , raw, I material. Hence supplies of sulphur arrive by. rail from Rotorua; bones , are obtained from the Freezing Company and I local sources, the great bulk, however, coming, from Australia ; guano, .in ship-; loads, is received: from i the islands; blood is secured from the local slaughter-houses, but a gteat .quantity ,is, imported from the ' neighbouring colonies; whils kainib and ' muriate of potash are - shipped all j the way from - Germany. ; The - ammoniacal liquor from the Auckland Gasworks is also utilised at Westfield,/ being conveyed' by rail in a specially,constructed, tank"., An engine of 12-horse power drives the : machinery; supplies of steam for. the engine and for other purposes being ob- ; tained from the boilers. ' In regard to, appliances for the; different departments of the works,' the factory is well equipped. Nearly a score of hands are employed in the establishment. In obtaining manures from the Drug. Company's Works,; purchasers, if they. wish, can have the stuff in a raw state, or they can have any mixture they desire. If they want blood, only, which can be obtained in a fine, dry state, ready for the drill, they have only to order and pay for that article. The same with kainit, muriate of potash, nitrate of soda, and other manures. Mr. Dick has mixtures for various crops—roots, cereals, or grassesaccording ito the best ■. formulas; still he is prepared to supply any mixture that may be ordered. This is a decided benefit, especially for such farmers as go in for. experimenting with manures. To show the purity of the several manures, and that there is no * haphazard work in : mixing them, each ingredient is analysed before mixing, the quantities carefully calculated, 20 to 30 tons being mixed at a time, the mixing }- being accomplished,by special apparatus. After the mixing is* done, a portion of the bulk is analysed in order to ensure that ■ the whole of, the lob; may be up to the guaranteed-standard, so that an absolute guarantee can be ; given. that all manures are genuine, and contain , also the percentage of phosphates, ammonia, J or ether ingredient which, if up to the standard, they must possess. : So far as I could ascertain while» on J a recent: visit ;to Westfield, there had been no complaints that could be substantiated that fertilisers had not been up to the standard. It may be well to bear in mind that the quality and value, and therefore the prices of manures manufactured at Westfield, are based upon the analyses and estimates carefully made by Mr. Pond ; and in this way purchasers are presumed to get full value for their money when buying, whether it be bonedust, superphosphate, or other fertiliser. This is a point that should be carefully noted. . •

. BONKS AND BONEDUST. Bonedust appears to be still the popular fertiliser with Auckland farmers. They use bones for wheat, bones for oats, bones for potatoes, and bones for grass. So that at the Westfield works, of any one manure the greatest run has been upon bonedust, and if; supplies of bones depended wholly on what.could be obtained from local resources, j orders for bonedust could not possibly have been executed. Luckily, bones are obtainable in Australia in any quantities, and the Drug Company have had to: import largely from the other colonies. The question has more than once cropped up as to the higher price of bonedust in Auckland compared with'the price in Australia, and even in the southern districts of New Zealand. I put the matter before Mr. Dick, and asked for an explanation, It was this: That, the price of bonedust was largely regulated by the supply of bones. In the South they could be purchased at about 50s per ton, but here they cost from £4 to £5 per ton. While, therefore, there is a scarcity of bones in Auckland, and the bulk of what are used have to be imported from Australia, the value must keep up. Apart, however, from their scarcity or otherwise, bones vary considerably in quality, some being more rich in phosphates or ammonia - than others. Not a few lots of bones would make a nice looking bonedust, but it would be of inferior quality, for the reason that > the virtue had been-boiled out cf the : bones. To obviate any inferiority that might occur through operating upon different classes of bones, at Westfield Mr. Dick has them mixed as much ns possible, and thus he obtains an average quality of bonedust when the bones are put through the mill after having been steamed for a short time. The plan of operating upon bones at the Drug Company's factory is, first of all, to shovel them into the " digester," a huge iron boiler or pot. Steam is then turned in, the bones being steamed for about an hour and a-half. They are then spread j out to dry. They are afterwards put through a powerful icrushing-mill; then through riddles, 1 the coarse riddlings having • to go through the mill a second time. Bonedust sold from Westfield is guaranteed to contain 48 per cent, phosphate, and 3 to 4 per cent, ammonia, being a superior article to the average quality of bonedust in the old country, which as a rule averages only 45 per cent, phosphates. ACID. As before mentioned, sulphur—of which a large . quantity id requiredis obtained from Kotorua, the stone ; being very rich, yielding as it does from /5 to 80 percent, of sulphur. At Westfield there are the usual ! appliances for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, which is largely used in the process of making manures. Mr. Dick kindly explained the details of how the acid was manufactured. To those who want the acid it is • supplied in 3-gallon jars, two being safely packed in a case for carriage or shipment. I believe the plant for making the acid is the most perfect in the colony. GUANO. Walking through the works, I noticed immense piles of guano, which is largely employed in the manufacture of the rich and valuable superphosphates for which Westfield is fatuous. In its pure state, or the state in which it is received, this manure is full of lumps ; but before being sent out to order it is carefully dressed, and made fit for the drill. SUPERPHOSPHATE. The superphosphates turned out at Westfield are equal to any in the world, judging by the analyses.: There are two classes, and the standard of both; guaranteed. Theso manures are very carefully prepared, the demand! for them : being on the ; increase, testimonials as to their value being nume-

rotni. In one part of the factory I aaw , g small mountain of this fertiliser, which wa - I being prepared for putting into bags. 8 f&l . "j SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. ' I The process of making this concentrated I and active fertiliser was explained by jj r 1 Dick,' and arrangements have*. 11 been corn ' pleted for its manufacture on an i extensiv* ! j scale, as it ia anticipated the demand for ?! ' will rapidly increase. 1 ■ j SULPHATE OF IRON, j ,f r 1 SpV j The manufacture of sulphate of i roß (copperas) has been commenced, and will carried on according as there, may be a mand for that chemical. '< _,• y IjfPf the special manures, for roots, cereals or grasses, which are all mixed 9 according '' to the ingredients required for the particuK All crops, I need not write. Ib may be stated x 1 that the special turnip manure is giving •„ very general satisfaction among ' growers a- I these valuable roots. < - -/ 9 w After spending a considerable timV/at'ilwi the works I was very well pleased with mv tit visit, and as Mr. Dick drove toe to.tha V--fi Penrose station I felt satisfied that Auckland' V ri farmers have in the Westfield Manure Fac- : ?/i tory an establishment which should prove a <■ - U boon, and from which they can have sap. .T If plies of rich, unadulterated fertilisers at nil ■ | seasons as they-are required. Agricou. - .3*l