Manurial Requirements.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 25, 30 March 1915, Page 4

Manurial Requirements.

Experiments devised with a view !to ascertaining the essential nnni- | mum amount of available phosphoric I acid ami potash required to produce j maximum growth were made at the I iNew Vo.k Agricultural .Station. The crops used included barley, pea?, tomatoes, tobacco, buckwheat, rape and turnips. The conditions of moisture and temperature we:e under contrui and were, as far as possible, regulated so as to lullv satisfy the requirements of t'ie plants throughout the ' experiments. ! The results obtained showed, i writes \V. N. Jordan, considerable j uniformity amongst the different | crops, no fixed relation exists beI tween the production of dry matter ! and the amounts of phosphorus ami ! potash utilised. Up to a somewhat j lr.delinite point the production of plant substance if creased, in most ! cases, with increases '"n the tupply iot the variable constituents, but | beyond thst point mcnase in the I c< nsumption of both phosphorus and I potassium compound only resulted in jan inciease in the proportion of j phosphorus and potassium in the 1 plant tissues, and rot to a corres- | ponding increase in plant growth, j The results also confirm the cori- ; lusion that the chemical analysis of ! a given crop is i.o certain criterion j of the manorial requirements of (hat particular crop. 'ihe object of this lute is to point 1 out ! j the farmer that artificial j fertilisers should be used judi j ciously. A fair amount of potash as a [ertilhcr is used in Australia, j principal]v by orchardists. i'ractii cally the whole oi' this is imported i from Stassfurt, in Germany. Should the present state of ail'airs J existing in Europe continue for any j length of time it is quite possible j that tne orehardists will have to do j without potash fertilisers.

Notes. Upon the "action' - cf horses which win prizes, a wel> known judge in the ring at a show days:— "What is the deference between the practical utility hoiee and the fashionable prize taking harness horse? It is principally one of action. The fashionable harness horse steps higher. But the very high action for which he is distinguished wears his leg*, and if he weie put to the work of the practical utility horse his legs would speedily b2 knocked up. It stands to reason that this ehould be the case—it is only a question of mechanics. Ths fact is that action has been ju'lged on incorrect lines; a siyle ol ae i-jn has Le. n admired

and given an undue impoitaice which is ippostd 10 ths true principal ot action. It a tar. da to reason that ths Lest—indeed, the only admissible—deiini'ion of action is that kind of movement which enables a horse to nu His work with the greatest >.a e to himself, aod to last longest at his particular work. 'lbis is too often lost sight if in tliese days, Lut it is very true that any other actien than this ia exaggerated, and in the long run harmful."

Lu order to ascertain the tiled of • top-dr.ssing cf citrate oi su'cla on ! a green foJdtr eiop an experiment had bten conducted hy Mr George Largley, manager fur Sir William M'Millan, on his fa<m at Albion I'aik, says a Svdrey exchange. The eiop sown v>a3 Thew wheat, three plots bamg provided for experiment. No, i r.lot received no manure, No. 2 plot received a top-dressing of 64!bs of nitrate of snda per acre, a r ,it No. 3 lot ( JGlb, The manure in each ca:e was caretully broadcasted, the crop being four inches high at the time. A carefully measured patch of the same size representing an average of each plot was cut and weighed, with the followirg iesull: — No. 1 plct, unmanured, yield per aote, 7 tons 14Acvvt, woith £3 17s Id; No. 2 plot, manured with G4lb nitrate of soda, at a cost of fes, yielded 10 tons, worth £5; No 3 plot, manured with 961b at a cost of 12s, yielded 13 tons 17cwt, worth £6 18s 6J. The results were recorded by Mr Langley in the same manner as he made similar tfsts for the Government. The value of the green feed was set down at 10s a ton, and the experiment prov:d that for 3s worth ot nitrate of soda 2 tons oi'cwt per acre mere fee:), worth £1 2s lid, was obtained; and for 12s worth of the top dressing 6 tons per acre extra green fodder, with £3 Is sd, was harvested.

What is going to be the price of this favourite top-dressing fertiliser during the coming season is a question which interests geneially tte agricultural community, ard, as usual, we turn for some idea on the subject to the anrual reports, issued at the end of the year, of the leading nitrate of soda brokers anu importers. Unfortunately, the information contained in thiee reports, is, owing to the war, of such a vague nature that it is impossible tc formulate any definite opinion as to the probable course of the market. (Joe salient point, however, stands out—the stocks of. the commodity ready tor shipment in Lbili on December 31et were estimated at more than 1,000,000 tons, against about 500,00U tons a year ago. This enormous stock, ccupled with the fact that Germany and Austria will be cut oil' from their usual brge supplies, that poor little Belgium will not be in a position to use any, and that the consumption in France will be on a restricted scale, all would seem to point to a slump in the article, atl'ordirjg to the farmers in the United Kingdom an opportuniy to feet their supplies at very favourable p. ices, Hut against tins desirable cheapness there are Eome important factors, the principal being the difficulty of obtaining freight for the shipment of the nitrate to Europe except at exhorbitant rates tf freight. The year closed with the price to farmers for spring delivery of about £lO 10a per ton, but thu is more nominal than actual, ai d it remains to b2 seen whether the sellers can maintain the price as the year advances. We should expect that tanners will be abl> to buy for less money.