FERTILISERS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12657, 10 January 1912, Page 8

FERTILISERS.

THE WORLD'S DEMANDS

By a glance at the enormous quantities of artificial fertilisers employed m the world one can get a good idea of the general progress of agriculture. The figures cannot be more than approximate, but they serve to show how dependent agriculture has become upon the fertiliser industry. (1) Phosphate of lime. — The total production is estimated at about 10,000,000 tons, of which 8,000,000 may be attributed to superphosphate and 2,000,000 to basic slag. This does not include the large quantities contained m guano, bones, etc. (2) Potash salts. — The Stassf urt mines deliver potash salts m different forms equal to about 500,000 tons of pure potash. (3) Nitrate of soda. — The shipments of this commodity from Chili amount to about 2,000,000 tons a year, of which it is roughly estimated that three-fourths are, for agriculture and one-fourth for chemical industries. (4) Sulphate of ammonia. ' — The total production approaches 1,000,000 tons a year, which is employed for agricultural purposes. All this fertilising material is' transformed by processes of cultivation and nature into supplies, of food for mankind and stock ; yet experts tell us that, as time goes on and cultivation becomes generally more intensive, it will be necessary to employ far larger quantities of fertilisers. Will the supply equal the demand. There are already indications that prices are moving tip, because the supplies are not keeping pace with the inquiries.