FARMING FOR PROFIT.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18392, 28 July 1931, Page 3

FARMING FOR PROFIT.

fertiliser importance. topdressing AN ESSENTIAL. ADVANTAGES OF SUPERPHOSPHATE "No matter how business men may Juggle with figures, and prepare balance sheets, In the final analysis the ■position of New Zealand's primary Industry determines our prosperity as Individuals and as a nation,” said ■Mr W. Alexander, of the fields division of Kempthorne, Prosser, Ltd., Auckland, in opening his address to the Hamilton Hotary Club yesterday. Air Alexander spoke on the fertiliser industry and its relation to the productivity of the soil, and gave some Interesting facts hearing on - New Zealand's primary industries. Agriculturally, he said, the Dominion Is'a ■country of some Importance. Its annual exports reach the huge total of 500,000 tons, made up chielly of dairy produce 180,000 tons, wool 77,000 tons, meat 210,000 tons, and fruit 25,000 tons. The sterling value of ■this output represents 95 per cent of the national' income. This summing up of tho Importance of the primary Industry is well understood by the business community, he continued, and as a rula their investigations cease at this point. To thoso engaged in looking below the surface ■of mere figures, however, there is another point of view to be considered, and that is that the Dominion’s huge tonnage of exports represents not Just so many tons of butter, wool, and meat, but so many tons of phosphoric acid, potash, nitrogen, and calcium, to name -only a few of the raw materials which go towards the production of our marketable foodstuffs.

Fertilising An Essential. Our existence as an agricultural •community Is not so much dependent upon the prices paid for our produce, as upon the' maintenance of a proper standard of fertility in our ■soils. The prices realised for primary products influence our standard of living, but the maintenance of soil fertility concerns our very existence. The successful farmer of to-day is a man who, understanding the Importance of soil fertility, treats his farm liberally and conducts his affairs in a business-like manner. The most elementary lesson a man on the land has to learn is that he cannot get butter from an empty churn. Neither can he expect profitable millc yields from underfed cows. As it is with the churn and the cow, so It is with' the soil. 'lmpoverished or underfed soil will not produce satisfactorily. "We have -long passed the stage of being satisfied with natural progress; in fact, we have set a much faster pace that has to be paid for," Mr Alexander continued. The business which he represents caters for the farmer’s requirements in providing means of artificial fertility, notably phosphoric acid, the outstanding need to-day in all New Zealand soils.

Discovery of Super-Phosphate,

It Is less than one hundred years since the use of mineral phosphates was at all common—prior to that hones were virtually the sole source of supply of phosphorio acid. A great German scientist, Leibig, once referred in soathing terms to the English vandalism In ransacking the battlefields of Europe for bones for use as fertilisers. In 1842 an English scientist, Sir John Bennet Lawes, gave to the world his discovery that ■coprolites, a form of rook phosphate, treated with sulphurio acid, quickly became available to plants, and consequently was of great value as a fertiliser. Lawes’ product was called super-phosphate. 'From that time the development of tho super-phos-phate industry has been very rapid; in fact, it has been too rapid, with the result that like many others, the industry has been over-built. In 1881 (the first authentio record) (he world’s production of super-phosphate was 900,000 tons, in 1905 it had reached 0,008,312 tons, and in 1929 it was estimated at 15,313,'516 tons. In New Zealand there are eight factories engaged in the manufacture of this fertiliser, their total capacity being about 500,000 tons. !But the annual consumption is only about half of this. The ■capital Invested in-plant, buildings, and machinery in these eight factories amounts to £1,500,000, or about £6 for every ton of superphosphate used each year. In addition to that the capital Invested In the distributing units and the cost of transporting the raw materials must be considered. Salaries or wages In the Industry total betwocn £200,000 and £250,000, or nearly £1 for every ton of super used.