NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The winter carnivai of this year, held under the ausnices of the Otago The Winter A. and P. Society, has come

ShoiT. and cone after a most successful run of four days. The takings at the doors have constituted a. record since the winter show was started 17 years ago, and amount to close on £3OO more than was taken last year. Thousands of people this year flocked into Dunedin, and, favoured with fine weather, snent no doubt a pleasant week in the Edinburgh of the south. Of the show itself, this year's exhibition is admitted to be easily the best yet held l under the direction of the society, and the additional accommodation provided by the recent erection of the new hall must have been appreciated by both, exhibitors and the enormous number of visitors who daily and nightly visited the show. That the many farmers, their wives and families who come to Dunedin at this time of the year derive considerable benefit and' not a little pleasure there is no reason to doubt, while

ftlle monetary value of the winter show to Dunedin generally would be difficult to I assess. The hotelkeepers and traders of I Dunedin must during the last week have i had good reason to feel grateful to an association which has been instrumental in bringing to them a very considerable accretion of ready money. In fact, Dunedin as a. whole must this week be considerably better off by the large influx of visitors to the city during what is now known (as the _ Winter Show Week of Otago. The additional accommodation provided by the committee has been fully availed of, and if the winter fixture continues to increase as it has done during the last 10 years, still further space will require to be provided. The Otago A. and P. Society is not a money-making institution, because it is carried on for the benefit of the farmers, as well as the citizens of Dunedin, so that while the city should considerably increase its support, there are very many farmers in Otago who should become members, and help the society to further extend its usefulness and continue to maintain its reputation for holding the premier winter show in New Zealand. The committee and members of the society are to be heartily congratulated on the splendid success of the interesting winter show of 1910.

At a season of the year whan farmers contemplate the purchase of their mammal requirements • inquiries are made as to the real value of different fertilisers, and as to. how this value can be ascertained without" difficulty. It is well ‘ known that the substances which are required are mainly nitrogen or ammonia, phosphate of lime, and potash. There are, of course, minor factors, such as the presence of available lime in a fertiliser, or the organic origin, of a manure, such as Peruvian guano or bones, which also constitute an element of some additional value. But apart from these secondary considerations the essential point for the former to bear' in mind is that he is buying so much plant food as ammonia, phosphate of lime, and -potash, and what he has got to pay for them. These substances have a re.gu’cr recognise! market value, subject to fluctuations, according to .supply and demand, but fortunately the changes in price in the course of the season are limited to nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, and even with these materials the variation is seldom as much as 10s per ton, or 6d ner cwt. The market price of . ammonia or nitrogen., phosphate of lime, soluble in water and soluble in citric acid, and potash depends on the cost at which they can be obtained in the principal source of supply. In nitrate cf soda the farmer buys its contents of nitrogen-—that is, a proportion or percentage of 15 per cent., and, taking the price of nitrate of soda at £9 10s, he pays this amount for the 15 per cent., or units per ton. He thus pays 12s 8d for each of the 15 units, or, converting the nitrogen into ammonia, he pays lOs 6d per unit of ammonia. Or, looking at it in another way, in the ton of nitrate of soda, he buys 15 per cent, of nitrogen—equal to 3361 b of nitrogen, for which he pays 6.80 d pet ib—equal to 5.6 d pea* lb of ammonia. ln : sulphate- of ammonia a farmer buys its proportion of ammonia—24.s per cent., and assuming the price to be £l2 10s per ton, he pays just about 10s 3d for each unit per ton. In a ton of su’iohats of ammonia he gets 24J- per cent, of ammonia—equal to 5491 b, so that it costs him 5.5 d per lb. In superphosphate, 25 per cent., he buvs this proportion of phosphate of lime soluble :n water, and, taking the price at £2 10s per-ton, he ,pays just about Is lid for each unit per.ton. In a ton of superphosphate lie gets 5821 b of soluble phosnhate, so that it costs him just about- Id' per lb. In. basic slag, 35 per cent., 80 per cent, soluble, he buys so much phosphate of lime soluble in citric acid, and if he payis £2 10s per ion it costs him just over is 9d for each unit per ton. He gets in the ton 6271 bof phosphate soluble in citric, costing him just less than Id per lb. In kainit, 12£ per cent., he buys this proportion of potash, and- assuming he pays £2 10s per ton, the potash cost hi ms just 4s ner unit pei ton. He gets in the ton 2801 bof potash, costing him l|d per Ib.

Calculating 1 Value of Fertilisers.

The unit cost of the three principal fertilising constituents is worked out in the preceding note, which can be obtained at about the following prices:—Nitrogen costa 12s 8d per unit per ton; ammonia costs 10s 3 d per unit per ton ; phosphate, soluble in water. Is lid per unit per ton; phosphate, soluble in citric acid. Is 9d per unit per ton ; potash, 4s per unit per ton. The figures, it will be understood, are only approximate, and 1 are subject to fluctuating markets; but they are quite near enough to afford guidance as to the ordinary commercial value of a manure. Sc. if a superphosphate of basic slag of a higher or lower quality is offered, the price can he checked by multiplying the percentage by the unit cost indicated above. And if a buyer gets an offer of one of those lowclass manures, usually made from a cheap refuse material mixed with a bttle phosphate, let him check its real vah'o bv the above scale, and it will be seen that such apparently cheap manure is really extremely dear. On the other hand, manures of good organic origin such as Peruvian guano and bones are worth more than the indicated unit values. Experience . has proved that they produce better results than mineral fertilisers. They cost more to the importer and manufacturer, who are therefore ■ obliged to charge nice, and many farmers find that the ’esuits justify thorn in paying a higher price for them. Similarly with well-made complete special manures, a manufacturer is justified in charging more for such a manure than the unit scale for fertilisers contlining < nly one fertilising ingredient. The firm devotes special knowledge to the combination of the different substances, incurs the expense of bringing the various ingredients to the factory, carefully mixing and turning the manure out in a perfect condition with a guaranteed uniform quality, but the exirn 'charge tor the work should be model ate. V- ; j.y often it is the reverse of moderate, and buyers Should see that ini tins direct:.-n they do not allow themselves to be imposed upon. Compent.O'i!. i various agricultural branches, such as nloughIP vidas 'ng. hedging. ditching, Coe.petitions, i hutching, milking, and so forth, are quite common in Great Britain; but there is a solo® oS

Unit Cast of Principal Fertilisers.

novelty about a competition in which experts with the spade pit their skill agains each other. At a competition inaugurated recently by a village society in Kent, England, prizes were given to the competitors "who succeeded in digging a given area of ground in the least time and the most workmanshipliko manner. Competitions' of the kind might well be introduced by our A and- P. associations, particularly in districts where there is a good deal of spade work done. Digging is skilled labour, just the same as ploughing or hedge-cutting, and to prove it one has only to put a Epade into the hands of ar out-of-work man who has never been accustomed to the use of the implement. How awkwardly he handles the tool J watch his attempts at keeping a trench as he turns over a few inches of top soil, and as the - work proceeds notice what an uneven surface of hills and hollows stretches before him! A good spadesman is known by his work, and . good digger proves his capacity by the way he gets over the ground, the depth to which he , moves the soil, and the state of the surface when he has completed his task. After contending that gcod digging is skilled labour, fchere is no question of doubt that competition is a useful way of making expert diggers, and competitions in spade work would certainly be -interesting as well as useful. - AGRICOLA.