FARM AND DAIRY

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9319, 31 December 1938, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY

EFFECT OF FERTILISERS EXPLODED THEORIES EXPERIMENTS IN GERMANY In a recent German publication I he author deals at length with assertions that have been made in recent years regarding the unfavourable effect, of commercial fertilisers and insecticides on crops. Perhaps Hie must prominent of these is the contention that the increase in the mineral content of agricultural produce, cause; 1 , h.v (he use of fertilisers, promotes the occurrence of metabolic, di'3t.urbanees in persons or animals fed on such material Another common opinion appears to be that commer cial fertilisers, as used at present, tend to lessen the resistance of plants to disease and at the same time to impair the quality of the crops in general.

Dealing with the first of the aliov assertions, the author refers to opinions expressed by prominent medical authorities, according to whom there is no evidence to show that "the use of artificial fertilisers causes a deterioration in the quality of agricultural produce and is consequently injurious to public health." In order to show the effect of commercial fertilisers on the general growth and quality of crops the author quotes the results of pot experiments witli oats and barley carried out on a peaty sand soil, poor in potash, at Darmstadt. In the case of oats, grown without potash, the weight of 1000 grains, originally 31.0gn sank in the first year to l£.2£;ii, a-"l in the following year to 10.7gn, whereas it remained constant in the case of plants receiving sufficient potash.

RESULT OF DEFICIENCY Deficiency of potash also impaired the germination capacity. In another series of experiments the effect of potash in accelerating the ripening of barley and tomatoes was demonstrated. Potash deficiency had an extremely unfavourable influence on the growth and ripening of tomatoes. A liberal application of potash promoted the formation of blossoms to a remarkable extent in the case of different garden plants. Similar instances of the efficacy of potash in this respect are quoted from the current scientific literature. The author then deals with the effect of rational manuring in increasing the resistance of corps to disease. For example, in pot experiments carried out at Darmstadt in 1030 it was observed that oats and barley receiving no potash* were badly affected by "thrips" and leaf louse respectively, whereas the plants supplied witli a liberal amount of this nutrient remained free from disease and pests. In conclusion the author calls attention to the results of careful scientific experiments which show that there is absolutely no foundation for I lie opinion that the consumption of agricultural produce, which has been treated witli chemical insecticides or ungicides, is injurious to the human health.

.MERITS OF CHEESE

A NUTRITIOUS FOOD An authority declares that there is no escape from the belief that cheese is one of the most nutritious of foods. A pound of Cheddar cheese, he says, contains all the casein and fat of a gallon of milk. Twenty pounds of cheese was said to contain as much food as the GOJb carcase of a sheep. The protein of cheeses Is Mrst-class animal protein, hardly inferior to that of beef. .Moreover, cheese is an economical food, standing well to the front for cheapness of animal protein and calaric rations.

! Cheese also contains large quanliI ties of calcium and phosphorus in 'available form. It has few drawbacks. It consists of protein, fat (containing vitamin A) and little else but, water. While kis not a perfect food, 11 shares this drawback with every other food, and notably with meat. It contains negligible amounts of vitamins 11 and C and roughage, but in conjunction with bread and vegetables, or fruit, it forms a perfect diet.

Cheese, it is said, is reputed to be 'indigestible. For this there is a certain amount of evidence. The fat of cheese protects the protein from the immediate action of the digestive juices and so renders it not. eisily dealt with by a delicate digestion. Part of its reputation of indigos'Jbility is due to the custom of faking it at the end of a meal which already has included protein.