MESSRS MOORHOUSE AND CO.'S MANURE FACTORY AT BELFAST.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2678, 6 November 1882, Page 3

MESSRS MOORHOUSE AND CO.'S MANURE FACTORY AT BELFAST.

[from the weekly prbssb.3

The soils of New Zealand have hitherto had but little justice done to them in the shape of receiving any return for the loss which they sustain through the removal of the constituents of plant food. Every cargo of produce that leaves our shores represents a loss to the soil, and our present system of agriculture does but little to restore the deficiency. Here and there, perhaps, there are a few exceptions, but the generality of farmers consider a rotation of crops to be quite sufficient to restore the loss. This would be perfectly correct providing a proper rotation of crops, in which one or more of the members receive manure, be adopted. But this is not the way of things in New Zealand (or indeed in any other young country) ; our rotations in most cases consist of getting as many grain crops as possible from the soil, and then laying it down to grass until it is able to go through the sweating ordeal again. This treatment is a most severe one. Scientific agriculturists tell us that the food constituents removed by grain and grass are much of the same character, and what restoration is effected is principally due to the clovers in the grass. The loss therefore is the same, but differing in its extent. Our croppings, as a rule at present, have not sufficient variety to allow the soil fairplay in effecting its own restoration by the rotation of crops, and this must tell sooner or later on the fertility of our own soils generally. The question of manures is one which when mooted is met by the query—Will it pay to use artificial. manures in New Zealand ? will the increase of produce obtained by the use of such compensate for the outlay involved ? Now, this is a question that can only be settled by experiment, and best by our farmers themselves, and the sooner they set to work and decide it the better. The old saying that " prevention is better than cure" is particularly applicable to the question under consideration, and should be born in mind. It is very seldom that the exhaustion of the food constituents in a soil is complete ; it is generally in. agricultural practice either nitrogen, phosphoric acid, lime, or potash, and a restoration of the missing link brings back the fertility to the soil. It is to special manures, containing one or more of these constituents, that we have to look for aid in the present day. The inability of the old time-honored farmyard manure to meet the requirements of agriculture, especially in New Zealand, where circumstances are such that but comparatively little is made, has been evident for a long period. It is, therefore, with gratification that we notice the establishment of what we believe to be the first manure factory in Nrfw Zealand by Messrs T. C. Moorhonse and Co., of Belfast. The firm has already commenced the manufacture of superphosphate of lime, a sample of which was exhibited at the recent Exhibition, and was awarded the gold medal, the appearance and also the published analysis showing it to be a first-class article. We understand that the works at Belfast, about seven miles from Christchurch on the north line, are supplied with all the more recent improvements in the machinery, and that the acid required in manufacture is also made on the premises. The importance of this industry i 3 such that it ought to mark an era in our agricultural progress. Unfortunately the season has gone for our gx'ain crops to benefit from an application of this manure, but the turnip crops should furnish some interesting results. This ie one step in the right direction for the farmers, and we hope the venture will prove successful, and that at no distant date other manures from the same firm will be. forthcoming. The manure (superphosphate of lime) now being at the disposal of the farmer, and we believe at a very fair cost, it only remains for him to note the effects and to ascertain whether the increase in produce is commensurate with the coat of the manure. This would form a most interesting and profitable subject for discussion and experiment at some of our farmers' clubs, and much practical good would result from the publication of the results of the action of this manure.

The peculiar nature of our soils, especially the light silty soils of the Canterbury plains, renders experiments of this kind the more necessary, and they should be made without delay, so that the question might be settled at once. Work of this kind to be of any value, from a scientific stand point, must be conducted with accuracy and care. Happily we have our College farm at Lincoln, with all its appliances, where doubtless such work will be conducted and the results made public. The importance of superphosphate for root crops is well recognised, so much so that the quantity used in Great Britain amounts to 300,000 tons annually for root crops alone. The value of superphosphate in the production of feeding material is the more important at the present time, in consequence of the attention which is being paid to the meat preserving industry. The result published by Dr. Voelcker, the chemist of the Koyal Agricultural Society of England, shows well the comparative value of superphosphate in this respect. The produce of unmanured land amounted to 5 tons 4 cwt. of roots per acre. This was increased by the application of £,% worth of bone dust to 8 tons 1G cwt., and by superphosphate of the same value to 13 tons 12 cwt per acre. It is at an early stage of the growth of root crops that superphosphate appears to be most beneficial, it gives the plants a vigorous growth which carries them beyond the stage at which the fly is most injurious. On the grasses it is said to favor the growth of the finer varieties; while on clovers its effect is also marked. Of the grain crops, barley is the most benefitted. The usual rate of application varies up to 4 cwt. per acre, but 3 cwt. is the most general dose.