FERTILISER FROM MUD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20537, 11 April 1930, Page 14

FERTILISER FROM MUD.

>Sir, —There seems to bo a great amount of misapprehension about mud being a fertiliser. Mud from the Wtiau , Creek was analysed many years ago, when it was proposed to mix the mud with sanitary refuse from the City of Auckland. A largo drying kiln with a huge smokestack was built in or near Avondale, but the result was unsatisfactory and the attempt was abandoned. "V.11." invites mo to grow a turnip in a heap of superphosphate, the acid would kill the turnip; but (alio a cow's intestine that superphosphate is made from and cut the intestine in the centre and sow your turnip and you will not bo disappointed. The reason mud is not a fertiliser is because it- excludes nitrogen. If a paddock is tramped into mud by cattle it takes about si* months to get the paddock back to fertility, let it Jm. dry or damp, which shows that mud is more suited as a weed exterminator than a fertiliser. A. J. Wihtesire.

Sir,—About <3O years ago J gathered some pipis at the mouth of the. Wairoa South liiver. When J' got back to the farm J emptied the pipis out on the grass and rubbed them round to clear the silt off them. Some months later, when T was walking over the paddock with a friend, our attention was drawn to a patch of grass that was growing very strong. On looking into it we found it was where I had emptied the pipis. A little later I got several bags of this silt and dressed a garden with it. The result was wonderful, pumpkins and other vegetables grew !o perfection. The next year 1 planted some plum trees. Two of the trees that were planted in the. part dressed with the silt, are much larger than (he others and - bear about 10 times the quantity of fruit, A few years ago 1 ploughed a piece of gum land, about one chain square, and gave it a good dressing of the silt. 1 planted it in potatoes and got the best crop I ever saw. We dug just on three tons of potatoes out of this patch, but, above all was the splendid quality. I topdressed some small patches of grass with the silt, and after about 17 years you could still see the results. Two years ago, on a new farm, ] used some of the silt, with wonderful rpsijlfs, both for grass and crops, fam quite sure, that if potato growers would use this silt they would just about double their crops and the quality would sell them. ,T. TI. W. Hoye. Clevedon, April 8, 1950.