TESTING OUT MANURES.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17242, 29 October 1927, Page 22 (Supplement)

TESTING OUT MANURES.

VALUE OF EXPERIMENT. ■ ,It has often been impressed upon farmers the desirability of carrying out simple experiments and making careful observations of the result thus obtained, with the object of securing first-hand information on such problems as the best combination of manures, the best varieties of seeds, etc. Farmers are not nearly as enterprising in this matter as they might be (says the Irish Farmers’ Gazette). A regular system of simple experiments costs very little, and may often yield information of a most important and valuable character. Farmers who manure on general principles will, no doubt, frequently obtain satisfactory results; but those who are dealing with soil of an exceptional character may be led astray by blindly following general principles. Take, for example, the manuring of meadows. The teachings of experimental stations show that, as a rule, potash is a most important ingredient in a manurial mixture, and yet there are cases where this substance does harm rather than good when used for meadow bay. Or take the effect of this manure on the turnip crop. As a rule it is necessary, fond its use will leave a profit, although it cannot be said that in the majority of cases its presence or absence is a matter of vital importance. But there are cases where potasli is the most important element of all in the treatment of this crop—so much so, indeed, that the most liberal application of nitrogen and phosphates may be , absolutely without effect if unsupported by potash.

It is, therefore, the first duty of the farmer to ascertain what the manurial requirements of his own particular holding may be. And not only so, but if the land is variable in character he should become acquainted with the peculiarities of every field. To rest satisfied with less is to conduct his business in a haphazard fashion. To some it may seem an extreme recommendation to make that every farmer should become an experimentalist, but nothing less will meet the necessities of tiie case. Tile land must be measured, and the manures, must lie weighed and properly mixed and applied; and although the experiment cannot be said to be complete -until the produce lias been weighed an experienced farmer will often estimate with the eye fairly accurately what the results of his experiments have been.