Page 198 Advertisement 2

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 3, 15 September 1939, Page 198

Read These Interesting Facts About BASIC SLAG © Basic slag is a by-product of the manufacture of steel. ® Most of the Basic Slag used by New Zealand farmers is of Belgian origin and is produced under the Thomas-Gilchrist-Bessemer process. Thomas Slag, as it is called in Europe, has been proved second to none as a fertilizer. '• Basic Slag is a phosphatic fertilizer and it is important to note that the phosphates it contains are in non-acid form. 0 Basic. Slag. has some unique properties. The phosphates it contains are in a state which makes them immediately available to plant life, and yet, it is basic and contains lime in -a state which quickly neutralises soil acidity. © Basic Slag helps to keep the soil non-acid, thus promoting correct soil conditions. © Basic Slag stimulates nodule formation in the leguminous plants, which results in an increase of that natural . phenomenon, the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. e Basic Slag, owing to its basic nature tends to liberate the potash from the minerals in the soil, where it . is locked up and inaccessible to plant life, ■■ ® Basic Slag has a tonic effect on the soil, the importance of which is increased by the minerals, such as iron, manganese, magnesia, etc., which it contains.