FERTILISER FAULTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22509, 28 August 1936, Page 18

FERTILISER FAULTS

ESSENTIAL MINERALS VALUE OF "TRACE ELEMENTS" WARNINGS OF SCIENTISTS lIV COLIN CAM I'RON "If we led ourselves as scientifically as we feed our farm animals and plants, there would lie less cancer, less indigestion, less ot the innumerable maladies which make corpses, cripples or invalids of tlio majority of modern people." There is a good deal to be said for this statement, but tho latest research is showing that an unexpected proportion of diseaso is due to tho fact that we are not feeding either our plants or our animals scientifically enough to provide ourselves with elements essential to our diet. We have been thoroughly drilled in the importance to both pasture and stock, of nitrogen, phosphorus, lone and potash. For a. very elaborate education in the necessity of these manures ue have to thank tho publicity campaigns conducted both by fertiliser companies and by a paternal Government. But the probe of science is discovering more and more evidence lor the fact that there are several other substances which must bo plant-avail-able in soil before pastures and crops can supply adequate nutrition, lhese substances will probably not be of such surpassing interest to tho fertiliser companies as the traditional four ot the : NT-L-P group, since they are required | only in microscopic quantities. In applying them,-it wi;l not be a question of so many cwt. to the acre; a mere pinch will amply suflice. However, if : tho companies concerned wish to keep;, their manures on the market, they wilt be well advised to apply the latest findings of research. Jt is therefore probable that, in tho near future, they will bo incorporating the required amounts of these "trace elements as they are called —in their fertiliser mixtures. Food Value Deficient Since our minds are necessarily preoccupied with the problem of getting as much out of every acre as we can persuade it to yield, we may easily pay i too little attention to the main purpose of all agricultural production to provide food. While it is important to get the maximum yield from tho soil, it is even more important that grain ami grass, fruit and vegetable should contain the substances required for our nutrition. High production figures are useless if there is not adequate foodvalue in the product. It is precisely in this matter of food-value that we shall have to revise our ideas. Recent investigations in the domain of bio- , chemistry have revealed that there are j many substances vital to the health of j all animals, including those of the; human species, which hitherto we have ; not thought it tho duty of the agriculturist to supply. i Even in the Dominion the disease ot "bush-sickness" among cattle and aj wasting disease affecting sheep on i several areas have already compelled us i to take jiotice of this fact. We have the j paradox qf stock starving in the midst; of plenty; wasting away on acres of luxuriant pasture. Not all the lime or J "super" in the world could improve the growth of the grass, yet these animals die from lack of food. What is the deficiency? Perhaps a minute trace of cobalt, a deficiency of iron, or of one of tho little-known minerals. How j often do we find that tho microscopic i things are more important than the 1 mountains. Is it not surprising to dis- i cover that, because a soil does not contain 20 to 30 parts of cobalt to every million parts of soil, no matter how abundant the pasture, no matter what the types of constituent grasses, the sheep' will derive no benefit from the food supplied in such apparent plenty? Chief Minerals Required The number of minerals with which our food must keep tho human body constantly supplied is astonishing. For the sake of interest we enumerate the chief: Aluminium, arsenic, barium, boron, bromine, calcium, carbon, chlorine, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, germanium, gold, hydrogen, iodine, iron, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nickel, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, rubidium, silicon, silver, sodium, strontium, sulphur, tin, titanium, zinc. L have said that we depend upon our food to keep us constantly supplied with these elements. It is not as if the body were a storehouse which retained- permanently all minerals I gathered into it. The cells and tissues of the system are being constantly used up by tiio life-processes, and among the wasto products thrown off, the greater number of these substances appear. Very few remain fixed in the system. Thus there is an incessant drain upon our mineral resources, and the only means we have of replenishing them is by consuming the foods which contain them. Cause of Breakdown To convey an idea of tho importance cf minerals to the jiuman body, a famous English physician recently stated that no man dies of old age. He dies from a lack of minerals brought about by tho gradual change which takes place in tho diet of older people. Allowing for a little rhetorical exaggeration, it is certain that, apart from their obvious necessity for bone structure, minerals are indispensable in the formation of muscle tissue, in the maintenance of the health of such glands as the thyroid, in the formation of digestive juices and other secretions. Without iron and copper, we should die of anaemia. A trace of magnesium in tho daily diet does more for the complexion tlian the most expensive cosmetics. An active liver and steady nerves are impossible without sulphur and allied elements. A study of patients in neurotic hospitals shows that, when tho diet is lacking in minerals, a breakdown occurs first in tho nervous system. The legs become weak, muscles tremble, and signs of rheumatism appear. Usually these symptoms rapidly disappear when balance is restored to tho diet. Thus any reduction in the optimum quantity of minerals required for innumerable purposes in tho human body cannot fail to injure the health of the people. Serious, therefore, are the warnings of research scientists who toll us that much of our food is being grown in soil which is lacking in indispensable minerals. To remedy this deficiency is one of the outstanding problems of modern agriculture.