MANURE SUBSIDY

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1932, Page 6

MANURE SUBSIDY

ITS CONTINUANCE DECIDED announcement by MINISTER ASSISTANCE TO PRODUCTION ARRANGEMENT -WITH FIRMS Hr Telegraph.—Prqi* A«mi*Ue n - Wellington, Last Night. "After gqing comprehensively into th© matter th© Government has decided to contmue th© superphosphate subsidy for another year at th© sum® r 4te as last year—-Us per ton, 1 ’ says the Minister of Agriculture, th© Hon, C, E. Macmillan, in a statement to-day. "As th© result of discussions with manufacturers th© selling price of 44/46 per cent, superphosphate, has been reduced from fet 2% Gd ta i-4 a t©n faj ©ash, free on rail, from work© in the North Island. That is. also the tasis of Qouth Island prices, but there the earlier system of‘‘free” ©r "fixed’’* selling points at which a uniform cash price is ©barged is arranged., the manufacturers bearing all railage, charges from the works and th© ©ash price at each free paint being £4 5« per tan. These fixed points ar© Honiby, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Ravensbourne, Burnside, Balclutfia, Gore and Invercargill, and th© 5s per ton representing railage costs should operate equitably when regarded as applying to all southern usens of superphosphate. “An examination of past results accruing from tie superphosphate subsidy indicates very clearly how it benefited the Dominion,” says the statement. "Th© necessity for something being done w© B realised when the us© of pasture top-dressing by dairy farmers began to fall away very noticeably last year, especially in the North Island, and good reason ©stated for grave regarding the immediate outlook. for the volume of dairy produce available for export. Much of the land devoted to intensive dairy farming is of th© typ© which would quickly fall away in productive capacity if not kept adequately fertilised. * "At the present time, with low values for dairv produce existing and with the probability of a continuance of low values for a period, it is more than ever necessary to raise the volume of production' to as high a level as possible, and the key to this lies in fertilising combined with good farming. “Before coming to its decision the Government gave careful consideration to representations, mafic for extending the. subsidy system to other fertilisers than superphosphate, but after examining th© position it was decided to ibe subsidy on the existing lines, except as regards the altered selling price arrangements stated above.”