The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1896. A FERTILITY ANALYSIS.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 128, 28 November 1896, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1896. A FERTILITY ANALYSIS.

At the last meeting of the Kiwitea County Council it was resolved that the Clerk write to the Government asking them to allow Professor Eirk I to visit tbe Kivritea County with a | view to reporting on the nature of the soil in tbe neighborhood of Kimbolton road, so that settlers may be in a better position to judge of the crops most suitable to the district, and of the measures most beneficial to the district. In this connection a writer in the Australasian of the 11th inst. points out. that it is an old complaint with fanners that a chemical analysis of their soils almost invariably fails to give a correct idea as to the state of their fertility. This is owing to the fact that though the substances required by plants may be present in the soil they do sot exist in such • ponditioa as to be available by tbe

plants. The substances are often only soluble in the strong acids used by the analyst, and though they may be abundant in the soil they are sealed up as far as the plant is concerned. On the other hand if the analyst were to estimate the quantities soluble in water he would obtain too low a result, for it is well known that plants possess in their roots an acid capable of dissolving substances in the soil that are insoluble in water. A method has been discovered of making an analysis of the soil by which only those quantities of the constituents are fihown which are in a readily available form, and on which the fertility of the soil depends. By means of this " fertility analysis " the farmer is enabled to at once see in what constituent his soil his deficient and thus a considerable saving may be made in manures, and experiments may be dispensed with. In this way fertility analysis, though but a modern discovery, has shown itself of immense importance as a help to economical manuring. We hope, therefore, that Professor Kirk will accede to the very reasonable request of the Council. Although the soil in this district is admitted to be second to none in the colony for quality, yet there can be no question that an accurate knowledge of all its properties and deficiencies would prove of immense advantage to those who are engaged in its cultivation. We are also convinced that the observations of Professor Kirk may lead to the discovery of a method whereby pastures may be secured from the presence of parasites which have recently proved so fatal to flocks and herds, by discovering what soils and what collateral conditions are favorable to their germination and growth, before they are taken into the systems of the animals affected. We are aware that much is already known on that subject, but the knowledge is after all merely superficial and for practical purposes comparatively worthless.