VALUE OF SUPER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32305, 27 August 1943, Page 7

VALUE OF SUPER

QUESTIONS FROM FARMERS THAMES VALLEY DAIRY SOUTH ISLAND PHOSPHATES Reporting to the annual general meeting of the suppliers of the Te Aroha-Thames Valley Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited, recently, the chairman, Mr D. Courtney, touched on the subject of fertiliser supplies and this formed the basis of a later discussion by shareholders. Mr Courtrfey mentioned that the working of South Island phosphate deposits would amout to 20,0i00 tons this year, which there would be a possibility of increasing to 50,000 tons. He anticipated that this would mainly be used in the South Island but* it should have the effect of releasing a little more of the available North African phosphate to the North Island. As time went on, of course, the South Island product might come to this Island.

Discussing the matter later in answer to suppliers’ questions, Mr Courtney said he understood that the South Island deposits were not of particularly high grade but one had to wait to see results.

Serpentine Super

“Why can’t we get super without the serpentine?” then asked another

supplier. “If serpentine has no value as manure why should we have to buy it?” Mr Courtney replied that one had to take some notice of experts, and he had been given to understand that although serpentine had no value itself as manure, it released a greater proportion of the phosphate into a form immediately available to plant life, thus giving 'better results than “super” would if sown alone. Several members of the meeting then spoke admitting that they had had excellent results with serpentine -super. One suggested, however, that as he had sown the pasture with a heavy dressing of lime prior to sowing serpentine super, the lime migh: have something to do with the splendid result. Good Analogy! Somewhat of a climax’ was then reached in the discussion with a contribution by Mr J. J. Shallue, “I have used serpentine super for three seasons and have had as good a result as with anything else,” he said. “There may be something in

the experts’ argument or it may be that mixing the super with the serpentine has the same result as the adulteration of the beer —it makes it go further!” This portion of the discussion then closed amid laughter after the chairman again urged all farmers requiring fertiliser to get their applications in • early.