MANURING TURNIP.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81897, 1 December 1906, Page 2

MANURING TURNIP.

THE BEST METHOD. ! On Thursday, the night. 3 f tin; s corid day at the Taranaki Ag,' ttltuial Show, about seventy laimiri;. a-semblnd in the New P'.ymou h Tow;; Hail to hear a lecture from Mr 11 H,ittricks, F.H.CS..N.D.A., of Sydney, on '-the best method of manuring turnips." In tli« ab-ence of Mr Newton King, President, the chair was taken by Mr H. Okey, one of the vice-presidents of the Agricultural Society. Mr Hattricks started by asking- what w-as aimed at in growing turnips, Was it to produce the greatest weight? The heaviest might not be th e ' best for the crop might contain too much watery substance; or, on the other hand, the turnips might be too dry, containing a woody fibre. Then the best crop t t turnips was the crop of most value as fodder for stock—th e crop that would carry the greatest quantity of neck to the acre. All would admit that manuring paid, to a greater or less extent, and he diet not wish to infer that New Zealand farmers had not been proceeding on the right '•mes. But were the results as good a* they might be ? That question could be only answered by practical tests in the field, and until more thorough tests were made in New Zealand, it must remain unanswered, lw i.vas not going to advocate any particular manure. I t was gcner . ally understood, he supposed, that

most of the substances required for the nutriment of the- soil were drawn from tue soil, and it was diesis substances with which h 0 would deal All plants required the same substances for food growth and development from the soil, and as the> e became deficient it, was necessary to supply them—nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. Turnips took a very -arge quantify of potash, relatively small amount of phosphoric acii. and an immense amount of potash', i hosphoricmanures weie not the most important, ye t it was found that New Zealand farmers used mostly ma:ures of this class, and little potash was used. The second ingredient in importance was nitrogen, which was fairly abundant in Nc'.v Zealand so s. Dealing with the functions . f the various ingredients of manures, Mr Hattricks said phosphoric acid was of enormous importance, especially in the initial stages of turnip growth and at flowering time, in the ronnation of seed. in the ear'y stages the acid was useful in extending the not development. Ttie principal function of nitiogen was in producing a luxuriant foliage, which was so important in transporting tiie albuminoids to the roots, the starch being formed in the leaf and stored

in the bulb. Now unless the soil contained the requisite quantities of these ingredients, full crops could not be grown, and it nw>t be understood tnat if one substance was deficient no quantities of cither of the other, two could compensate for tile deficiency. For instance, in New Zealand soi.'s the prevailing characteristics were their deficiency of phosphoric acid and exceptional richness in nitrogen and potash. So long as there was an absence of pho.-piialic parts no crop could be grown, for an absence if phosphates reduced the yield t 0 such an extent that without 'potash there could be produced only 0 per cent of the crop grdu-u from fully manured

Naturally, when a farmer found "is crops affected by the absence of some constituent in the soil he would endeavour to find out what was lacking, generally having the soil analysed. That was absurd, and the chemical analysis of the sod was no sure indication of its manurial requirements. The analyst would doubtless boil up the sample in acids, but it must be manifest that a plant food might be dissolved in acid that could not be dissolved and assiniulatcd by the tender roots of a plant. Chemical analysis found a lot of plant loud that plants were unable to use, and which, therefore, might just as well be absent. If chemical analysis was no sure guide, and if the analysis of the p:anis was no indication, low was the fanner to find what \vcrc the miM profitable manures? It could only bo done by experimenting, by practical field tests. A word or two about the manure in common use. The best of a 1 methods of manuring consisted in the application of farmyard manure, consisting of the decayed of plant ;ife, and containing all that plants would require. It was also of great value because of its effect in improving the mechanical condition of soil, a thing essential in growing turnips. But farmyard manure was unobtainable under Now Zealand conditions. Supoiphosphaio contained only phosphoric acid, and Thomas' Phosphate, or basic slagwas similar, and was only valued for that. Bouedust, a favourite fertiliser, contained large quantities of phosphates and nitrogen, tho rough (green) being richer in this ingredient than the fine, or steamed, variety. Meat works fertilisers contained less phosphoric acid and more nitrogen, but were variable quantities. Superphosphates were quick acting, and were, or ought to be, easily soluble in water. Basic slag was not soluble in water, but in a one per cent solution of citric acid, which had the same dissolving power as plant roots. Bonedust was not soluble in either water or the acid solution.

Discussing the be-t methods of conducting experiments, the lecturer said that when he first came out from England he hail made many mistakes, one of them being to expect ihe colonial fanner 10 weigh his crops—that he fo'und. was impo.-sib.e so some oilier way must be found. Now lie pioposeti to lay oil' plois of about two acres each, siile by side, one cropped ui one wily and oire in another. • At the beginning of the winter season two lots of sheep would be drafted, a- nearly as possible equal, and weighed. They would be placed upon their plots and allowed to eat the feed down, nole being taken of the leiigih of lime that each plotwould sustain its quota of sheep. By this means an estimate of lihe value per acre of the variously treated soils j could be anived at. hi experiments earned out in the West of Scotland

with two plots one treated to potash and nitrogen, and the other with equal quantities -of superphosphate anil basic slag, it was found that

the superphosphate treatment gave the heavier uop than basic s.ag, in the ratio of 100 to Samples of the roots were taken and analysed, and it was shown ■tiififc the superphosphates produced more watery turnips, ami the ratio was now too to y;, *til! in favour of superphosphates. The roots were pilled and fed to »heep for a period of 70, days, but bore the figures were reversed, for whereas the average increase in weight of [\ la !11, ™ als from llin Superpho-pale lur- ".!"« was i2lbs, the basic slay rooigave an inoiea-e of i4lbs, tne ratio being 10S to 100 over the whole course of the cxporimuit,

Mr Jiattricks was not favourably impressed with the New Zealand method of sowing manure and seed together. Turnips in their early-

stages were very delicate, and the manures used had often a very bad effect on the young growth, especially where superphosphates or muriate of potash were used. A better plan was to do the sowing by means of a disc dril with two manure spouts. One in advance of th r disc sowed file manure in the bottom of (he d'ill. and the other would drop it so i) w > it would act as a good starter. Answering questions, he informed Mr 11. Okey that it was impos-iblc to grow two good crops „f t„ m ; 1)s ,„ succession from one field.

. Mr W. W. Jones suggested thai it was a good scheme lo crop with turnips, folowing with rape '"' cats, and turnips again in. the next year. The green crop seemed to restore the humus t.i the -"oil, ami turnips were great devourers of them. Mr llatlricks said that was ea-ilv explained. Turnips were a fallow crop, dependant on the anvuinl of organic matter in the soil. Under t'le conditions in which turnips were grown this organic matter was subject (0 rapid decomposition so that with cropping the soil was poorer i„ this matter. At the s ; . m - time better grain crops could be secured after turnip cropping, for as ihc resu't of the destruction of the organic matter there, was a large amount of plant food in the soil. Jn anawpr to Mr Fagran, jgsg

larked that th c Tamnaki Agricultral Society )iad recently been to :oat pain.; and trouble to get sames of soil from all parts of Taranki, acting on advice from the Dep-L-tmtnt of Agriculture, Mr Hattrick< iid he would not go back on his ■ atemi'nt that analysis was not a jfe basis for finding the mammal requirements nf soi'. He would always dj so fiom experiment:;. Mr Kerr chemical analysis would snow tue percentage of clay and lime in soils. Mr Hattricks replied that that could be done by mechanical ana yeie. Answering a further question freta Mr Kerr, lie gave some u-eful information concerning lime, which he said had more important functions than as a plant focd, inasmuch as it broke up the insoluble mineral matte and made it available for the sustenance of plant life. It wa-> alsj important in the decomposition and fermentation of matter, a supply pf lime being essential in the decomposition of organic matter. It al-o performed a u-eful function in render-

ing friable sticky and plastic clay. On the whale, lime was a most important constituent of the soil, apart from any manurial properties it might possoss. To Mr Jones, the lecturer stated that scientists were endeavouring by chemical means to analyse the soils so as to show their approximate value, or deficiencies. The old method i f treatment with hot acids he would not recommend. Answering Mr Fagan, Mr Hattricks said farmyard or stable

manure should be well rotted, but not in the open air, for the action of the rains led to a great ,'oss of nitrogen. If packed tightly or stored under cover there was little of this oss, and certainly the rotted manure was far better than unrotted. Lime should not be added. Mr Luscombe asked if Mr Hattricks could inform farmers of the reason why the second crop of turnips from a field was more Cikely to rot than the first. Mr llattrick replied. "That's beyond me". Speaking of experiments conducted in New Zealand, Mr Hattricks said that by the use of potash to the cost of 7/6 per acre the value of a crop had been improved by 3 tons 2 cwt. "When is land sour, and why?" asked a farmer. "A most interesting question, 1 ' said Mr Hattricks. "and of very great importance in turnip growing. Land is sour when badly ventilated, when it is waterlogged, or so placed that air cannot reach it. By reason, of this want of ventilation the fermentation cannot be carried to its conclusion, and the matter only reaches a a acid condition, 'which sours the land and makes it most injurious to a turnip crop. The best way to make sour land permanently sweet is to let the air in, to drain it; a temporary effect could be, obtained by the use of lime, or basic slag. Mr J. 13. Corrigan of South Taranaki, placed twelve acres of turnip Jaijd at M|'r Hattricks disposal fjor experiments,