The Waipa Post. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1926. TO HELP PRODUCTION.

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1786, 24 July 1926, Page 4

The Waipa Post. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1926. TO HELP PRODUCTION.

THE use of fertilisers, .especially for the top-dressing of grass lands, has long since passed the experimental stage, and anything that can be done to reduce the cost of artificial manures will add to the prosperity of the country, and, will be welcomed by all who wKsh to see the land industries expand. An important conference of representatives of the Railway Department, various harbour boards, manufacturers of fertilisers, freezing companies, importers and distributing merchants, was held in the Prime Minister’s office, Wellington, last week for the purpose of discussing Avays and mean's of encouraging the use of fertilisers by the farmers of the Dominion. Mr ,T. F. Gibson, chairman of the Produce Committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, and an importer and distributor of fertilisers, was among those present, and he gave a Lyttelton Times reporter an outline of what took place at the conference. The Prime Minister, said Mr Gibson, explained that it was necessary to encourage the use of'fertilisers, both in agricultural work and for .top-dre'ssingh The next question was how to lessen the cost of fertiliser to the farmer. He had gone into the matter with the RailAvay Department, and, they were prepared to recommend a reduction of say 40 per cent, on the present railage rates on manures, from the factory to. the farmer, and he now

wanted to know 'how the others inter- |

ested in the trade could co-op<erate. In the first place, he wished to know whether the harbour hoards would look into itheir charges and see whether any reduction could possibly be made. The manufacturer should consider his costs and endeavour to meet the position, and so on, to the merchant and distributor. If .each could do something for a reduction of cost to ithe producer, the whole would amount to a very considerable sum and, further than that, it should be reproductive in that the cheapening of the article should encourage the use of larger® quantities. The 'Dominion would benefit as a whole by the increased production. .After explaining matters the meeting was divided into three sections —manufacturers, importers, and distributors. Each was asked to consult, l if he thought advisable, with the Secretary of Industi’ies and Commerce; and each section was further asked to report to the Prime Minister’s office prior to Friday, July 23rd. Subsequently, meetings were held of the importers and distributing merchants, when representatives from the Department of Industries and Commerce were preteent, and the actual costs of selling and distributing were fully gone into. The conference marks the initial step in a desire to' assist the man on the land, and it is -to be hoped that as e result of collaboration among the various parties named, that a tangible reduction will be made in the cost of fertilisers. Many farmers in the Te Awamutu district will welcome the steps taken, for a reduction in price of fertilisers will have a big effect in this district. Many hundreds—in fact, thousands—of acres of easy country could be benefited greatly, and| brought to a stage where two blades of grass are made to grow where only one grow/s now. The evidence given before the Deteriorated Lands Commission clearly showed that much hitherto productive land has in the past ten years reverted to its unproductive state largely through the inability of the occupiers to farm it effectively. Their chief handicap was lack of sufficient finance to purchase and apply fertilisers. If the importers and, manufacturers reduce the cost by slay 101 s per ton it will stimulate business and certainly go a great way to’Ward|s Increasing production. It is to be hoped! the negotiations in this direction prove successful. Hand in hand with the fertiliser problem is that of better transport, and it is noteworthy that year by year the roads are being improved, to allow of quicker and cheaper transport of manures, etc., to the more isolated farm holdings.