Profitable Farming

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 July 1911, Page 4

Profitable Farming

Every farmer loves a profit, and those who were present at a lecture delivered to an agricultural society at Moffat must have been attracted by the title, "Profitable manuring." At the outset (reports the "Mark Lane Express"), the lecturer referred to the importance of this subject, as every farmer knew that in order to grow full crops—which were tihe only proiittVblo crops—some dressing of artificial manures Irad to be given, in addition to the quantity of dung available. Dung was the oldest manure, and the best, and could not be- dispensed with, as, in addition to its containing all tbo ingredients of plant food, it possessed properties that were ecjuially important, as it was required to keep the. land in proper mechanical condition, and to supnjy bacteria essential for tho fertility of the soil. Antificials, on the other iliand, weiro applied simply .for the plant food ■they .contained, either |im α-cadlily available form or in a- I'onn that could bo rendered available in a reasonable, time. The- problem of manuring was a difficult one- foir the average farmer to solve. The m,um-Pii-ous agricultural colleges throughout the country bad helped the farmer much to solve this problem. The agricultural press, too, bad been very effective in diffusing a wider knowledge of manures and the proper methods of manuring. The results of countless experiments and demonstrations had conclusively proved tihe efficacy anicl profitableness of applications of artificial manmre, provided they were judiciously used, and that they could be more generally employed oik all crops > in increased quantities with profit. Tbo wonder was that a bigger demand for all kinds of artificials ill ad not resulted. If one looked_ nit the statistics of consumption for tilio last ten years, too founvd that t.be demand for nitrogenous and nliospihtitio manures had not .much iTioreased in Britain, while in the case of potash, there- lias been a rapid increase of consumption. This was easily accounted for, us the value of ijotasli formerly was altogether under-esti-mated till the result of the numerous ami wide-spread field experiments earned out by agricultural bodies demonstrated its value for all crops and most soils, and even on many clays which were previously supposed not to need applications of potash at fill. Though clays were 'lmturally rich in this ingredient, it had been proved in very many cases that it was so locked up in the soil as to be incapable of utilisation by plants. Rapid >as tlio increase in consumption of potash had been, experiments were continually proving that there was room for a greater and still .highly profitable increase. Tn all results of manuring_ experiments conducted, by the various agricultural colleges, the necessity of applying a complete manure to crops lfad been invariably demonstrated— that was, a manure containing proper proportions of the threo essential ingredients of plant food'—namely, nitrogen, phosphates, and potash. Except in exceptional circunistacos, it was a mistake to apply an incomplete manure. In all cases it was the duty of every farmer to find out the manurial ref|Uii.rcmeiii.ts of bis farm, and of every field on his farm. Tins could only bo done by carving out experiments.