West Coast Farmers' Lime Producing Co., Ltd.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1926, Page 2

West Coast Farmers' Lime Producing Co., Ltd.

■SJ'XK FTAUY’S 111'.FOilT, Knowing the value of the “persnanl touch” in business I was pi nuk-gcil to attend the Grey A. and p. Show tor t»o Pays and Uie Hokitika Show on l'inlay last. Lie inajoiiiy id tanners attending were of the dairy section and even the women lolk were eager to •earn sound king fresh which would lie la their advantage

I am indebted to Air Dnlglci-li. Melds I list rnctor. lor parti: ulais cl ids latest experiments in tup-dressing. The majority of farmers on the West Coast know the value ol burnt lime ill Ihe spring, but there are many who do not konw Hie value of lop-dressing their paddocks in the autumn with, cail. mate cl lime, so that results may be ol laii’i’d the billowing spiing.

In lop-dressing with carbonate you cm, cut i i n cost oi ploughing, but you ii't|iiir;: l i i,:jt-flres.- about six months I'c'iuiv you get. results, which arc maintained lor tile next seven years, 'those expel imenls were ral l ied out on land some of which was dry. some swampy, some had been poluglied, but the most of it was virgin land, felled, logged and burned, bill wit It stumps dotting the surface. The object in view was

to see what could be done by toil-dress-ing with lime. Nauru phosphates, basic slag ■ in siime plots separately and in others mixing the lime and the manures.

Boards on each plot .showed the uuanlities used amt their cost such as:—One tone of lime with, three cwt of Nauru phosphate per acre cost £3 7s; one ton to lime and three cu t t.f superphosphate par acre, cost (J.'f 10s; one ton of little anti three cwt of basic slag per acre, cost £3 Us (id ; one ton of carbonate of lime, east 25 s; three cwt of superphosphate per acre, costs 2os. Then mixed there was one ton of carbonate ol lime with 3 cwt of superphosphate per acre, cost £2 10s. Side by side with these plots were sections t.f laud on which neither manure or lime were used, ami it was interesting to note the contrast ; the treated land showed a line pasturage, in plait’s knee deep (lor six weeks growth) while cutty or swamp grass prevailed in the untreated land.

The principal grasses sown were lotus major, white clover and trefoil.

The value of draining was admitted, hut it was pointed out that more immeilate results could often he obtained from top-dressing anti at infinitely small cost compared with that ol drain-

Fantiers were advised to keep to the one class of manure for at least two or three years when a change may then lie tried.

Air Dnlgleish proposed to continue the experiment with the idea ol limling out the. best manures and mixtures to get :is near as possible the maximum results from the land and he invited the farmers to watch the results with a view lo applying the lessons learned to their own land, lie believed that Irv using lime in the autumn and superphosphate in tlie spring, if would prove highly k'liolital. At the (lose of 1 1 is address. Mr !>algleish was closely quest iouetl. one speaker saying that we knew from experiment that we must add lime and manures to certain soils to make up the ingredients in witch the laud was deficient.