ANALYSIS OF SOIL

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16468, 21 June 1919, Page 11

ANALYSIS OF SOIL

AND INTENSE CULTIVATION. (By Augustus E. Watkins.) This matter is of great importance to tho fanners of New Zealand, especially now, owing to the fact that we must find money to pay interest on the war loans. The oldest of sciences, agriculture, in certain of its aspects at any rate, has lagged behind at a time when tho modern world had begun to show an active, intelligent, and scientific curiosity. There was a time when writers made an attack of poverty on the world, a period when it seemed that man had readied the limits of food /Supplies. Between then /and now intensive cultivation (hut not in New Zealand) has arrived as a now art, and wo have largely to thank tho chemist for bringing about those results. What was .said 40 years ago 1 hope will not be said at tho end of the next 20 years. Tho men of science have set to work to see whether it might not bo possible to make a bettor use of our yearly income. Tho voices of those few who are preaching agricultural reform are the voices of men crying in tho wilderness, but the country doses its cars to those who tell it. Science must have more attention from our Government. A director of science should bo appointed, with funds placed ,at his disposal, say £250,000, and with experts in all branches of chemistry much would be done to bring about a greater increase in production. The need has now arisen when it is of exceptional urgency to get tlie utmost food value possible out of tho soil. The first matter for consideration is how are we going to meet the extra interest (about £4.000,000 per annum) on our national indebtedness. I can see only one way and that is increased production by that amount, or else extra taxes will be necessary. To bring about more satisfactory results the Government should have laboratories with chemists in attendance in those centres where intense cultivation is needed for the purpose of having the soils analysed. It would then bo known what the soils require to make them produce their host. An expert should also bo in attendance to advise the farmer as to the most suitable fodder to cultivate on the said lands. The cost of establishing tho laboratory with its chemists, etc., should not bo a heavy expense, I should say £2OOO per annum. Much of this cost could' be mot by allowing farmers’ sons (especially during the winter months) to take up a course of special study in this branch of chemistry. There should be a charge made for the analysis of all manures and seeds. There should also be a compulsory charge as against the owners' of alj lands of, say, sixpence per acre. This would enable them to nave (taking 100 acres as an average farm) 5 acres each of their land tested.

In the first place the farmer should have a flat plan of his farm drawn to scale, say, 10 chains to an inch,, on which plan would be shown the general contour of the farm. This farm would be _ divided into twenty'*- 'subdivisions of five acres each, one of these plans would be handed to the m charge of the laboratory, the other being retained by the fanner. Each .year the official appointed would hand to the farmer ten pegs with a registered number, also location number, Burned on the standard peg. These would be driven into the ground at equal distances, if possible. The localities would be marked on the plan, and samples taken at these points, each sample would be placed in a standard receiver supplied by the laboratory and numbered corresponding with the peg number, and these, with the map, would be sent to the laboratory for analysis. There a complete record would be kept for future, reference. A certificate would then be issued to the farmer, giving full details, also what manures the land required to make it produce its best. The certificate before being sent away would be handed to the fodder and grain expert, and he would attach to the certificate his advice as to the best fodder, etci, which should be cultivnt•ed on the land under review. In the space of 20 years a complete analysis would bo made of the farm., I feel certain there is no settler in this district that would not welcome an institution being at once started in Taranaki. The annual charge of, say, sixpence per »acro would work out at os per analysis. lam convinced that the results from such a scheme would produce some extraordinary results. In a few years we would find many of our farmers reducing the size of their holdings owing to the fact that half of the land under scientific treatment would produce the same if not better returns than are now being obtained. The district would then further advance, as more land would bo under intense cultivation, and thus would be able to accommodate more families. Reference has been made to farmsons taking up chemistry classes. The benefit of this would soon be apparent, and these boys would take much more interest in their parents’ farms, after learning what chemistry would do for fanning. I would like tho farmers of Taranaki to take this matter up at once. Should help bo required tho Government should bo asked. Tho expert chemists could at times visit the various farming districts and give lectures and advice to farmers. We might find that much of our land would bo more suitable for growing other than grasses, root and grain crops, which cultivation would prove of more worth than for general farming.