FOOD FOR THE SOIL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21470, 19 April 1933, Page 18

FOOD FOR THE SOIL

ECONOMIC MANURING ENGLISH WRITER'S ADVICE At the present time one lias (o consider carefully not only what crops will repay expenditure on fertilisers, but also what are the limits of their profitable use. Mangolds and kale are crops where ad vantage should be taken of the abnor-mally-low price of sulphate of ammonia, says a writer in an English paper. Such crops are not worth growing unless good yields are secured, but when they are goccJ no crops will yield a greater or cheaper quantity of valuable foodstuff per acre. At least lewt. per acre of sulphate of ammonia should be sown at seed-time along with the normal allowance of phosphate and potash, and two or more topdressings of lewt. sulphate of ammonia should be given later. Manures in Lieu of Labour There is almost no limit to the amount of nitrogen which a leafy crop such as kale can absorb. It is better to spend one's money on an extra cwt. of sulphate of ammonia than on the labour required for singling. Rather forgo singling nnd rely for additional light and room on mixing some rape and swede seed with the kale. Rape is useful in the mixture if only because it :s less liable than kale to bis attacked by " fly." Rothamsted reckons tilt lewt. of sulphate of ammonia is good for an extra SOcwt. of mangolds., There aro no figures for kale, but manure with faith and kale will not let you down. Potatoes —particularly early potatoes because of their season—require soluble, quick-acting manures, and if the price is right 110 crop better repays generous treatment. Two-four-two (even three-four-two fcr earlies) of sulphate of ammonia, superphosphate and muriate of potash are about the right proportions and quantities in CM'ts. per acre. Ilay is still a very necessary farm commodity, and wliero a farmer cannot produce all he requires by mowing more acres than usual he will find that judicious expenditure on fertilisers for hay will be wiill repaid. It is still more economical to use fertilisers to produce cow-food than to buy the article roady-made. Of the three usual components of a fertiliser mixture—nitrogen, phosphate and potash—thb nitrogen is the one which, used alone, will give the greatest response. But unless pi osphate and potash have been used fa:rlv regularly in the past it would not be advisable to manure with nitrogen only. One-two-one of sulphate of ammonia, superphosphate and potash salts would be an economical dressing. Patent Fertilisers Choose a field that has been regularly well-grazed, and which in consequence will contain a good proportion of perennial ryegrass. If the pasture has not received phosphates in recent years it would be desirable to include 2cwt. of superphosphate along with the sulphate of ammonia, and, if the soil is light, lewt. potash salts in addition. Ecif an early " bite." sulphate of ammonia is again £Tio most potent and economical fertiliser. If fanners really want early grass, they must sow for it. In the succession of mild winters experienced recently, Italian ryegrass fertilised in autumn either by dung or sulphate of ammonia and rested three months has produced abundant keep—cow keep in fact—in January, and Italian ryegrass seed is cheap. After feeding off close in the winter it will still produce a luxuriant hay crop. For general utility .purposes, including winter keep for ewes and lambs, a mixture of Italian rvegrass and trefoil occupies tod£,y a place among seed-mixtures analogous to' that of sulphate of ammonia among fertilisers. They are two things for which iL.e farmer can be thankful.