ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 8 April 1920, Page 39

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. . .■ The yardings at Burnside last week were small in all departments, and prime sheep and cattle sold at slightly increased rates, while medium sorts were on a par witn previous sales. Fat cattle; 117 yarded. ; Prime cattle were keenly competed for at an advance on late rates. Prime heavy bullocks £2O to £26 10s, medium £l7 10s to £l9 10s. Fat sheep; 1224 yarded. On the whole, the quality of these was very indifferent, and any prime lots were eagerly competed for, while medium and inferior sorts met with little competition at late rates. -Prime heavy wethers 46s to 545, medium 38s to 455, light and inferior 25s to 355, prime heavy ewes 40s to 46s 3d, medium 33s to 38s, light and unfinished 20s to 30s. Fat lambs: 412 yarded. The quality was only medium, and competition was limited to butchers and one exporter only. Prices were on a par with the previous , week’s rates. Prime lambs made up to 32s 6d, medium 20s to 255. Pigs: A small yarding, which met with good competition at prices equal to late rates. Best - baconers made from lljd to Is per lb, and best porkers from Is o|cl to Is L’d per lb. At Addington market last week there was again a big ding of all classes of stock, excepting- lambs, which are now coming forward in reduced numbers. The market genei ally was firm, though not so good as at previous sale. Fat lambs: 3100 yarded, compared with 4400 the previous week. The quality was varied, and on account of only two companies competing, and that only to a limited extent, values were slightly easier. Extra prime lambs 34s 6d to 375, prime 28s 9d to 33s 6d, medium 26s to 28s 6d, light and unfinished 17s to 24s 9d. Fat sheep: A large yarding, which included a number of pens of exceptionally well-finished wethers. The tops of one draft touched 565, and several others exceeded 50s. The Easter trade was responsible for a good demand from butchers, and in spite of the smaller proportion going to freezing buyers the market was firm throughout. Extra prime wethers brou-dit from 44s to 565, prime 38s 9d to -13 s 3d, medium 33s 3/s, lighter 28s 4d to 32s 9d, extra nrime ewes to 44s 9d, prime 3, s to 425, medium 32s to 35s Gd, lighter 24s 3d to 30s Gd. Fat cattle; 440 yarded. Tim sale was -mod for prime quality until near the finish, when values eased and freezing buyers were less in evidence than usual Extra prime, steers £24 7s Gd to £26 10s. prime £l9 15s to £24, medium £ls 10s to £l9. lighter £8 to £l4, prime heifers £l3 os to £l6 ss, ordinary £7 10s to £l2 10s. prime x°i'o S J® 13 10s to £l 7 10s - ordinary and inferior £7 to £l2 los. Vealers: A good entry, and a strong .demand Runners made to £B. Pigs: A medium entry met with fair demand. Extra heavy £7 to £7 10s, ordinary £5 15s to £6 los (average price per lb TO pi to lldh heavy porkers £4 10s to £5 7s, ordinary £3 15s to £4 5s (average price per lb Is OJ-d), choppers £6 to £9 15s.

QUESTIONABLE VALUE OF SOIL ANALYSES. It is thought by some people that an analysis of the soil of a field should afford a reliable guidance as to its manurial treatment, and chemists are often asked to make an analysis of a sample of soil and give an opinion bns-d on the results of the analysis, what fertilisers should b° supplied. Experienced farmers (says an English contemporary) know that such tests are illusory—the soil is a product of far too complex a character to be capable of such simple treatment. If it were, crop production would be merely a matter of calculating out the Quantities of fertilisine substances discovered in the soil by the chemist's test but the problem is by no means so simple- on soil V the wheat always stands up, on soil B it is apt to blight and go down. Why cannot the chemist analyse both soils and say what constituent B lacks, or what injurious substance it contains to so affect the wheat? The chemist however has rarely been able to answer such a question. In many cases, when he has given an answer, it has not nroved ot any value in practice, because in all probability he mistook some accidental variation in the two soils for a casual difference. In the first place there is a very little difference in composition between one crop and another, between a healthy and a diseased one; all plants contain the same small range of elements drawn from the soil—nitrogen phosphoric acid, sulphur, chlorine, soda, potash, lime' magnesia, with a trace of iron, and sometimes silica—and in very much the same proportions. These same elements occur in all soils, with but small variations in the proportion. Few soils contain as much as 0.5 per cent., or less than 0.1 per cent, of nitrogen, and other important elements vary even less. Moreover, as these ;amounts may seem, they -are-far more than the crop re-

quires the soil over an acre down to the depth of. 9in weighs about 1000 tons, so 0.1 per cent, would mean about 10 tons of nitrogen to the acre. Now, a big crop of wheat would not remove from the soil more than about 701 b of nitrogen per acre. j Mangels, may , take away , twice as much, but still a trifling amount compared with the stock in JJf, sod- , with all this stock, the addition of another 2olb, r such as would be contained in 2cwt of nitrate of soda, may increase the crop by 20 per cent, or more. Facts of this kind have ; led" the chemists / ; to attempt to draw a distinction between plant food in the soil that . is available and the dormant stock which has to -undergo some chemical change to reach the form that can be utilised by the plant. , What the analysts can do has been summarised l bv a writer (Mr. A. D. Hall) as follows:- ’ ' 1. Mechanical analysis enables us to classify soils and assign an unknown example to its type. •; 2. From the type, combined with knowledge of the situation and climate, we may predict its suitability or otherwise for particular crops. - \ 3. Chemical analysis will tell us whether a soil is getting acid or needs liming to make it work properly and utilise the manure applied to it. 4. Fiom chemical analysis we can settle what class of manures • ought to be used—whether sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda, whether superphosphate or basic slag. ; ■ V ■ 5. Chemical analysis will often reveal particular deficiencies and the specific for phosphates or potash, but to do tins with any certainty the composition and behaviour or soils o that type should be known from a previous sou survey. ► POTATOES AND PLANT FOOD. i The potato plant is a hard-working organism, both under and ' above the soil, producing a mass of tubers and a bulk of foliage. To enable the plant to do this successfully a large quantity of nourishment is required. A well-grown potato crop extracts more plant food from the soil than any other crop excepting mangels, and the nourishment absorbed by the jilant during the early stages or its growth. . ,/ is a Victor to be noted, because it is a guide to the use of the most suitable fertilisers and the time of their application. For instance, a liberal dressing of farmjard manure is recognised as being essential for the crop, but it should be applied to. the soil in the autumn or early winter, so that the fertilising constituents in it may have become available by the time the young potato plants come up and a f- regards other fertilisers use should be made of those which act. quickly, thus shoddy and similar slow-action bulky manures are licit so suitable as sulphate of ammonia; superphosphate as a rule acts better than oasic slag, because it works more quickly. Experience has shown conclusively that an ideal treatment for l. toes . is first a good dressing of rich farmyard nianuie applied in the autumn and, in the spring when some sets are sown, an application, of . H to 2cwt of sulphate of ammonia, 3 to 4cwt of superphosphate 1 , or ea F l y potatoes the dressing of farmyard manure may be reduced, and the quantities of artificials slightly increased. y",- ILI - V _ Potash is desirable, and if the grower can spread a dressing of wood ashes-which are rich in potash-over the soil, it cannot fail to exert a favorable effect on the growth of the crop.