USE OF FERTILISERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16622, 14 April 1928, Page 11

USE OF FERTILISERS

AUCKLAND WELL IN LEAD THE SOUTH ISLAND LAGS The remarkable and increasing use of top-dressing ia New Zealand is well illustrated by figures compiled by the Government Statistician for the year ended March 31, 1927. These show tho total quantity of fertilisers used was 219,150 tons. ■ The exact acreage treated is not definitely ascertainable, since tho returns make no deduction in respect of land top-dressed in the same year with two or more,fertilisers, either separately or as a mixture. Following is a summary of the re turn, the figures representing thousands, both in acres and hundred-

weights:—' ' ...... '•- '.ZZ N. Island.. S. Island.; . ae.- cwt';' ac. ' cwtr Superphosphate < 826 3039 159 315 ~ Basic slag .. :.252 .. 73(L... 10 HS~ Other artificial 152 452;' -10 31.": Stable manure, etc. 4 1 —*" Lime ~.',..' 53 ; '-267 <54 521- ' Totals- .. 1287 4488-234 8951 The North "Auckland and Auckland" land district's, taken .together,, account:: for a little more than half the Doming ion totals. The figures (thousands; omitted) 'are:— Superphosphate, 625acres and 1557ewt.; basic slag, 108 auct: 336; other artificial, 117' and. 863 j: stable manure, etc., 3 and —; Hme/3.f]t;: and ,150;, totals, BS3 and .2406, . ■• . ~ The return clearly 'shows tho SouthIsland has so far made little progress* with the use of artificial manures for" top-dressing, although there is a dofin? ite movement in that direction:'. About the same acreage in each island was treated with lime, but,the South' Island used twice as much for the pux-; pose as tho North Island, doubtless; because of the special needs of cer-1 tain classes of soil. ' Iu artificial fer-: tiliscrs the North Island used moro; than eight times as much. • Superphosphate is shown easily in_ ;the lead among all' classes of tojKdrossing materials, accounting for" 117,650 tons out of the grand total of: 219,150 tons, or 53 per'cent . .: *~.

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