FOOD FOR LAND

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18756, 12 July 1935, Page 14

FOOD FOR LAND

SILT IN GLACIAL RIVERS When conducting experiments to determine the amount of silt carried by Mid-Canterbury and South Canterbury rivers the irrigation exports now working at Tcmuka made what promises to prove an interesting discovery. They found that in sonic of the Canterbury rivers such a high percentage of line silt with a definite food-value was often carried, that ii the water could be deposited on the countryside its effect would probably be highly beneficial. All necessary tests have been made to prove the content of the food value of this silt, the extent to which it is carried in the rivers at certain times and its likely effect on the land. From these tests it appears that quite apart from the benefits derived from the water itself in some of the South Canterbury irrigation systems likely to be in operation in tiie next few years the deposit of the silt may become a very important factor in the general improvement of the productive qualities of the countryside-