A USEFUL EXPERIMENT

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3246, 31 March 1943, Page 4

A USEFUL EXPERIMENT

When it became necessary to I restrict the quantities of fertili iser which farmers could • purj chase, many of them expressed some concern regarding their ' production. They had come to j relv so confidently on the benefi--1 cial results of topdressing that ! the inability to carry on the proj cess in the usual way caused ' anxious speculation. In 1940- ; 41 about 4,650,000 acres were topdressed, and all but .250,000 I with artificial fertiliser or a i mixture including it, so that the j rationing system affected a very large area. It was not expected that the first 'season would show much change, and weather conl ditions in the North Island were | favourable to the growth of the pastures, but many farmers I felt that the* second and subse- < quent seasons with the use of ! limited quantities of topdress- ! ing might show adverse effects. I It has been reported this year [ that hap crops are, on the whole, i lighter than they were last year, i but this is attributed largely to 'seasonal conditions.. The butterfat figures are said to be below the output a year ago, but the continued dry weather is [largely to blame for this. The | enforced experience of . having to make reduced quantities of tondressing suffice will, it is admitted, enable important comparisons to be made. Pastures that had formerly been treated with the more lasting manures will be compared with those on which the quick-er-acting sorts were regularly used, and the values of mixtures now officially favoured will also be put to a practical test. Production is now well past its peak, and while output may be regarded as the most practical test, many men on the land will take other factors into account, especially the growth of feed that carries the stock into the colder weather. The effects. of the limitation of topdressing will be cumulative, but this experience should provide evidence of the capacity of the grasslands to stand up to the shortage over a period. It may even lead to changes nxthe methods and practices of some farmers.'