SHOW CONFERENCES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2180, 19 June 1914, Page 10

SHOW CONFERENCES

''THE-FEETILITY OF.THE SOIL.' "' The annual conference.- of.the National Dairy/Association,was .concluded at 'the'. Show Grounds yesterday. Interesting papers were read. , The pnper prepared by ;Mr. G. Baylis", of the Department of Agriculture, on "The-Fertility-of tlie Soil," was read by Mr*-J....G..^arluie3S,. secretary of the' National ;Bairy ;Mr. Ba'ylisa laid down*.three rules, iis"follow :—(l) <A fertile soil: must possess'.-nll, the raw : nm?' terial accessary .to, build .up tho fra.me:Work;and,tissiie"6f. theiplaiit.,;\.These are nitrogen, phosphoric acid,; potash,- - ;calcium, sodium, iron, sulphur, -silicon and chloride.,-'oxygen, carbon, Jiyxlrogen, .ruaj-. • nesium, and manganese. (2)>li must.pos-' sesj all those factors* necessary, to 'disintegrate the raw, material, or--;to' cause it. to "rot'or decay. 'These comprise heat, air; moisture, bacterial; and "other, forms .of and" chemical action- generally. (3) It must i possess, a,, considerable content of lime, in order ' to neutralise ocilils, which are often generated in the soil, and .to form .a favourable.base.with which other ipo'd material« liberated by action may combine, and in this fortn be utilised by the plant.:;.' ~ •, • . "the Air Flow in the Soil. A great deal, Mr. Bayless wont' on to Bay, r,)rjis''tO()iiired'l)efore'*a : soil could:be . properly described as fertile. ThQ,soil's mcctiiinical condition wash's'important-its the chemical. The circulation, of,abundanceof aiT within the'-soil-was essential to ensure fertility. ~7lOho*air or'the' moisture was stagnant; -poisonous sases nrose*, and'useful ''organisms perished. 1 Such'adverse conditiqps'we'ro often;found in very fine compacted'silt soils, and also in stiff clays. On th'e.oth'er hand, -while a soil was very loose.-.open, or porons, it could not bo fertile, because, in periods of drought, the moisture would not- be properly drawn to the surface. One'of tho most-important conditions-for fertility was _tho soil's ability',; to.-retain', a largo Amount of moisture, : enveloping as-a film, lor casing, VcvwyCmihute-individual frninr of soil;,;to;wluch;;:it.'adhered.' Thus also,-n free.circnlatioiV'dKair. was possible, A. crdp_ as.fertile in so' Jar as it conformetl/to.theTetiuiremonts.. Crop'yiflour:iri the Soil.

Seldom was it necessary to add. to a soil pll the ingredients -which-plants required, but four exceptions;,we're nitro'gdn, .phosphoric acid, potash, and lime.- -Nitrogen was fairly,.-plentiful!in 'New Zealand, soil,. but, on the whole,6uv-laud's weresnot supplied too well.with:p!i6sphorio acid. Potnsh was very necessary to fruit-trees, 'potatoes,' and root Crops. - Lime played-'anim-portant. part in'ike'eping.'.a soil fertile,-as well as in improving poor land. For one thing, it corrected acidity. What lime and proper' management could -do for the gum lands in the north was, perhaps, the best, example that could be given of the need and value of it iu soil. .Rotation of crops was important and -essential. ' It was really the science 'of utilising ono crop to feed another...Farmers should keep charts recording the results obtained from each of their paddocks. ■ Mixed farming should be done to eomo extent by all holders; A fertile soil must possess all the' raw material ■necessary- for- the "building up of the framework and tissue . of the plant. Most soils possessed theso materials in sufficient quantities, but, in many cases, the plant food was not available; It might ho that it was not sufficiently- decomposed,' m the material might not yet havo- entered into certain desirable combinations with other ingredients of the soil, which converts them into available food for the' plant use. A rote thanking Mr. Bayliss for his was passed.'-. ON PHOSPHATES. AN ADDRESS BY ME.'J.-G. WILSON. Mr. .7. G. Wilson, president of the Board of' Agriculture, read a paper on "Phosphates.". . In the course of his address, Mr. Wilson said: "There is not the slightest reason why wo should not manufacture our own superphosphate. The sulphur exists in largo quantitie's within the Dominion. No doubt superphosphate is manufactured in New Zealand at the present moment, but it costs too much.- The class of. super we buy is sold for £1 ss. to;„C2 12s, Gd. a.;ton,in'England;' and it costs nearly.-JC!>. here.. Tot England litis to-get its'supply.'of.phosphate rock from Algeria. The American idea, however, is that a mixture of ground phosphate rock nnd ground limo givo as good a result ns tho super if it is ground fine enough. Already it has been tried at Mouniahaki. and found, at a less cost of 3s. 3d. per acre, to give as good a result with turnips as superphosphate. if limo and groiund phosphate rock con be procured cheaply it-may-prove that this is the most economical form of phosphates wo; can use? Tho available sources of. phosphate are in the hands of a syndicate or'.private, owners. Why should the farmers of New Zealand not secure, before it is too late, a source of this valuable manure for their own use. ' I Why Not-Join Hands? "Now I come to the "point' of tho long story. Why should the dairy companies and agriculturists not join together and form a co-operative company to make their own phosphatic manures? There are 313 butter and cheese factories in tho North Island of New Zealand. Eien if 200, of these were to put .ElfiO a piece into Mich a company, there would-be a capital of 4:20,000, and if more capilil were- required there should be no difficulty in procuring it, for such an object.

'We already import about 90,000 tons, 1 and if wo'could'chea'p'eu the; cost to.'farmers by this means we should, be -able- to use over ouc-fourth more of phosphates for the samo money. In a few yeirs we shall want 200,000 tons, and if we do not tako steps to seoure a supply we shall find that we shall havo to nay 25 per cent, more than was at present.. : ,•' I Make the Sporting Offer. , Mr. Wilson then said that the whole thing would be much better done by private enterprise, more quickly, and more economically than by State action. It was worthy of note, however, that 'in the United States they were using prison labour for the purpose. . . . If," said the speaker, "they can grind limestone, why not phosphate rock? I would, however, much prefer to seo your lenders, take the matter in hand. Much of the information Ihnvo had at hand has been supplied to me by Mr. Aston, and he is at the moment of writing on his way 'to the States, and, Mr: Massey says, he has been requested to make further inquiries re the supply in Florida, also of the companies which have control of the deposits in "the Pacific, as to the cost f.0.b., and' it only requires a little enterprise amongst farmers to secure a permanent supply at a minimum cost. I hope that the dairy t company directors • will•■; -discuss" this amongst thomselves, and that,- shortly, wo shall ■ see steps being taken .to form, a company. .1 make the sporting. offer .ti take up the first ,£SO worth of shares, and I am suro that once the movement is begun the capital will bo forthcoming." Tho conference thanked Mr. Wilson for his address. >. THE FACTORY MANAGERS. SALARY QUESTION. • ' The show has been an important one for dairy lactory managers,-btcnuse their deliberations 'have centred on an endca.v-' our to arrange, a Dominion agreement on salaries and working conditions. . On Tuesday evening, alter long deliberation, a committee of fifteen managers was appointed to draw up a minimum Ecale.of salaries to put beiore.a full meeting of the 'Managers' Association,last evening.'.- -Forty managers were, present, and 'Mr, ..Win. Dixon, 'of Thames Valley, occupied - the chair. •',-.' Mr. Dixon-explained the rules of the association to those present,'and made, it clear that-llic-.h'ttitude of-the association v;as-entirely against unionist". ." ', The meeting considered and adopted tin sale of .salaries- brought-forward; and tho;fdllowing were appointed a deputation to. interview the National Dairy Associa-tion-.-Messrs. W'. Dixon and J. K!, Sinclair (Auckland), C.. Cooper - (Tarahaki), M. T.-West aild,T. C. Irving. (U'airu.vajw), and. J. Murray (Hawke's Bay).- , Yesterday morning the deputation waited on the National Dairv Association Executive, and after the matter had been discussed, it ;was. decided ,to d-efer .final consideration until two 'months' 'time, ,;w.hen" a meeting will bo held,'-with a view to coming.. to an amicable arran<>enient ,betwieeft> the Dairy Association' and the dairy factory.'

-.au.ari.ty. Milk-Payments. '■■'!:•■ • .The resolptio.n v:as carried'at a meeting-.of(p factory, managers-.—"That this .meeting ,of ..the. Neiv Zealand .-Dairy Factory-Jlanagei's'. .Association heartily approves- of'the 'schema brought forward, by Mr. D; Citddie,. Dairy •Commissioner, for paying' for-milk and cream on. a Quality basis, arid assures' the Daii-y Division of;-the Agricirlthral Department of its heiirty co-opbration/'