VALUE OF PEAT LANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19456, 12 October 1926, Page 7

VALUE OF PEAT LANDS.

RICH SOILS LYING IDLE. EXPERIMENT AND RESEARCH. SUCCESS IN -OTHER COUNTRIES, j 'Chore are vast possibilities for the ! future utilisation of the peat lands of New Zealand in tho opinion of Mr. N. G. Gribblo, of Hamilton, who returned by tho Hororata yesterday after an extended visit to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, during which ho closely investigated the treatment and productiveness of this class of land. "The opinion I have always held on the value of this land now considered waste in New Zealand has been more than upheld," said Air. Gribble. "In the countries visited I found the bestinformed people consider that peat lands represent the greatest soil assets any country can have, provided they are capable of economic treatment. In tho United States a great deal of this class of country has been reclaimed from , river beds and low-lying country, the procedure being to raise stop-banks and unwater by pumping. Some of the tracts thus operated are of considerable extent and I found the secret of their success was in the utilisation of mechanical means and tho growing of the most remunerative crops. Dredgers and ditchers wero employed wherever that was possible and it was demonstrated that the cost of constructing ditches in this manner was only one-tenth of the cost of doing tho samo work by hand." Large Returns From Produce. Speaking particularly of the success achieved in California Mr. Gribble said he visited the San Joaquin Valley and saw land which, while true peat, varying from 25 to 50 feet in depth, produced returns equivalent to £SO an acre a year, while in tho Sacramento Valley he saw lands which were producing up to £2OO and £250 an acre. These were very largo tracts and these remarkable returns were obtained from potatoes, asparagus, celery, lettuce and beet. The American success to bo most largely attributable to tho fact that research and practice were going along hand in hand. At tho University of California ho met some of tho world's most famous scientists in thi3 branch and they informed him they were getting direct aid from the peat farmers, who made yearly cash payments to assist in investigating the further possibilities of peat soils. Mr. Gribble also found that very encouraging results had been obtained in England with the treatment of peat lands. Much of the fen country was peaty and wonderful returns had been obtained from this land when handled on sound lines. The shrinkage had in manycases reduced the peat from depths varying from 15 to 20 feet to a depth of from two to three feet. Sir Frederick who had been called uj>on by the British Government on several occasions for advice on agricultural problems, was farming an area of between 8000 and 9000 acres, most of which was peat, and he was exporting garden truck to most parts of the United Kingdom. The Value of Nitrogen.

" I have brought back samples of these peat lands," said Mr. Gribble, " and in my opinion the exact type of land is to be found in our different swamps. They vary, of course, but when I told people S about the character of our peat lands ' and the vast areas available they refused to believe it possible that we were so backward as to neglect them. I had it from Professor John A. Burd, who occupies the chair of soils in the University of California, that peat contained more nitrogen than any other type of soil and that it was capable of infinite nitrification. As nitrogen is the most expensive element that we put into the land by way of fertilisers the value of this cannot be over emphasised." It had also been discovered that nursery stock could be grown on peat soils and in America a very large business of this kind was springing up. An excellent market was also being found for products of this soil. As an instance the California growers were sending asparagus, packed in moss, to the Eastern States in refrigerated cars, and much of this was even being sold at Coveot Garden as fresh produce. " In all the localities visited," said Mr. Gribble, "I found the Government concerned had given financial assistance, considering it was sound policy to develop these waste lands to such a point as to make them remunerative. If we could realise the incubus of the fifty miles of peat lands lying waste along the railway lines to the south of Auckland I think we would* make an effort to make them reproductive. We look upon such areas as waste but other and more advanced countries regard them as .assets. This is one direction in which wo could increase the production of the country."