THE CALL OF SCIENCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 27, 23 April 1927, Page 18 (Supplement)

THE CALL OF SCIENCE

Phenomenal Fertiliser Sales

The Romance of Nauru

The phenomenal growth of the fertiliser industry during the last quarter of a century provides one of the commercial romances of modern times. Farmers of every clime now realise that manures and increased production go hand-in-hand, and so great has been the increase demand that manufacturers are finding a difficulty in coping with orders.

Way back in 1859 Abraham Lincoln, referring to the noticeable decline in fertility of many of the United States farm lands, spoke of the “unknowncauses, which of late years have cut down our crops below their former average.” Sick soils were not peculiar to the United States, however, and the farmers of the European countries, face to face with decreasing returns, were forced to seek a remedy or go out of business. Cultivation and rotation cropping had been found by progressive farmers to be a big factor in combating soil deterioration, and the value of farmyard manure was also recognised; but it was not till well into the eighties that farmers could be got to seriously consider the possibilities of artificial manures.

GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY

When, a century and a-quarter ago, Captain Fearn, of the whaling ship Hunter, placed Nauru on the map as Pleasant Island, he did not dream that one day it would become a greater source of wealth than a gold mine, and be the subject of keen controversy at the world’s most momentous conference table. Though, until 1888, when it was annexed by the Germans and its name changed to the native one of Nauru, Pleasant Island was thought to be of little commercial importance, the production of phosphates for soil fertilisation had by that time become an established industry in many countries, and from the year 1867 to 1887 the United States of America marketed

four and a-half million tons of phosphatic rock and European countries had begun to look to Northern Africa for supplies. Little of the huge Moroccan deposits, however, were touched till after the beginning of this century. Then it was that the possibilities of the Pacific Isles began to be recognised and in 1905 Christmas Island produced 99,510 tons of phosphatic rock. In that year also a concession was granted by the German Government to a German company to exploit all the guano phosphate deposits in the Marshall Islands. The Pacific Phosphate Company, an English firm with offices in Sydney, had previously acquired the working rights over the phosphate deposits on the British Ocean Island and had worked out the guano and phosphate deposits on several small islands.

DISCOVERY OF NAURU DEPOSITS It was by mere chance that a piece of Nauru rock found its way to Sydney where, after a period of neglect, is attracted the attention of Mr. A. F. Ellis, who immediately saw it to be a specimen of high-grade rock. Even after Mr. Ellis had made an investigation, however, the Germans still refused to believe that Nauru was of any great commercial value, and the Pacific

Phosphate Company secured the rights over the phosphate deposits. The subsequent operations of the firm quickly proved Nauru to be of great economic importance and brought the island under the view of all stations. STRUGGLE FOR POSSESSION With the outbreak of war in 1914 concessions became scraps of paper, and the offices of the British Phosphate Company were deported to Ocean Island. The H.M.A.S. Melbourne annexed the island in October, 1914, but departed without leaving a party of occupation, so the Germans promptly re-annexed the island. By this time the Japanese were after Nauru, but lost to a party of 60 Aussies through delaying long enough to annex the phosphate deposits on the Marshall Islands. Had the Australians been two days later the Japs would have been in possession. Annexation during the war, however, did not necessarily mean ownership, and it was only after long and heated debates at the Peace Conference that a mandate over Nauru was granted to the Governments of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Subsequently an 'agrement was entered into whereby the three powers purchased the plants and rights of the Pacific Phosphate Company in the Nauru and Ocean Islands for £3,500,000 and it was provided that Great Britain and Australia should each have the right to 42 per cent, of the annual output and New Zealand the remaining 16 per cent. This latter part of the agreement is subject to a revision every fiveyears but, as yet, has not been altered.

GREATLY INCREASED DEMAND Each year the demand for fertilisers, especially superphosphate, from farmers in soil-sick areas increases, and to-day the output of Nauru is not sufficient to meet the growing needs of the manufacturers. Thus, during the past year, supplies have had to be drawn from Ocean and Makatea Islands. During periods of acute shortness when weather conditions made it impossible to work the island, Florida, U.S.A., has even been drawn on. So great has been the increased demand that the seven plants operating in New Zealand have had great difficulty in coping with orders, _ and at least one firm in the Auckland district is working three shifts a day with orders booked ahead till July. In all parts of the world the position is the same. Farmers, face to face with poor and exhausted soils,. are realising that the surest way of turning failure into success is through the unstinted use of fertilisers. The growth of the industry is no flash in the pan. It is a sure and steady response of the farmer to the call of science and the next few years should see greatly increased production going hand in hand with a more general use of fertilisers.