UNKNOWN. Disappointing Result.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 169, 11 September 1886, Page 1

UNKNOWN. Disappointing Result.

The series of tests which have been proceeding for more than two months, under the direction of our gardening contributor " Hortus," have *e»ch«d a stage when t)ie results may,, we think, be exhibited to the public. We regret that they, are unfavourable to the fertility of the mud deposit. The lighter deposits of volcanic s*»d and aah were not tried. The mud used, vrms collected by the editor of the Star in the' vicinity of Lake Rotoiti, ten days after the •ru-ption. The experiment was commenced ori the 24th of June, under conditions exceptional!)' favourable to the mild, because the plants might have partly supplied the want of ammonia in the soil from the air and the watei used in krig&t'mg them while growing in the hot bed. The seeds used, peas, were also well adapted for making the most of thest advantages; the result is, therefore, themoio disnppointiug. The teat was a comparative, one - 1 - the pure mud being placed sidr by side with pure furnace ash and pure sand, and also with composts of mud »> and loam, sand and loam, "and pure loam. For a time the plants ail progressed well together, as was to be expected, so long as their life depended upon the vital force and nutriment of the seed, but when they came to draw upon the soil, the plants in furnace ash graduall) dwindled and died off, tlxe plants in sand, previously the tallest, sheved signs of failing, and those in mud followed suit, although not m so marked a degree. The plants in the composts went on with increased vigour. The follow ing table shows, the 1 dative heights of tin plants now :—: — No. Inches. I—Pure1 — Pure volrnnic mud _. ... .. 15^ 2 — Pure silver sunii 15^ 3— Turf)' loam .. .. .. ..19" 4—l4 — 1 wo parts loam and one part volcanic mud . . . . . . . . . . 22*4 s—l'>\'°5 — 1'>\'° parts turfy loam and one pare iilvrr sand . . 2oj£ 6 — Vure furnace ashes .. „ .. died ' 7—Two paits turfy loam and one part ' furnace ashes 24^ The plants in the volcanic mud look stiongei than those in the sand, but are m every resipec. less vigoious than any of the others. It isatisfactoiy to notice, however, that the mud seems to exercise a beneficial effect when mixed with loam, and as that is the condition of most of the lands afiected by the deposit, the eruption will have cnused no permanent damage to any of the settlements on the East Coast, but will, on the contraiy, have done them good. The mud-covered area beyond the reach of the •#ibsoil plough is, after all, a very narrow area between the eastern shore of Lake Rotorua and the western shore of Tarawcra. " Hortus " reports as follows upon the results of the experiment : "In the earlier stages of this experiment the peas in the pure sand grew faster than in any of the other compounds. After reaching a ceitain stage, when the roots were beginning to diaw nutriment from the soil, the plants in the mixed soils soon outstiipped both the pure mud and pure sand ; the plants in engine ashes about two weeks ago died out. The peas in all the mixed compounds show a fine, healthy, strong growth, with good colour in the foliage. The peas in the sand and mud are of a short, stunted, weakly growth, foliage not very healthy-looking, showing, in my opinion, a great want of. fertilizing materials -in the soil they are growing in. Although only a small portion of the mud has passed through my hands, I would like to express my opinion of its immediate future capabilities of producing ciops. At first I thought i^ would immensely benefit stiff, retentive soils, but after a shoit peiiod that opinion entirely changed, as I found that when watered it was even moie retentive than most soils that are used for agricultural pui poses. Suclrbeinc; the case, it would injure them. For light fern land or light sandy soils with a good deal of vegetable matter m their composition, the mud would, in .my opinion, be of benefit, rendeiing them moie retentive ; that is to say, where the mud is not too deep to permit of the ordinary means of cultivation properly mixing, them. Wherethedepositisofbu'cl^a depth that it' would be impossible to get it mixed by ordinary means, or where the roots of crops could not reach the original soil, the mud would, in 'such positions, be of very little value, as, even if irrigation would "germinate seeds and keep them alive during the moist spring, ,the hot dry summer would catise the' mud to crack into large fissures, which would' jb'e ruinous to, ;rops." The plants in ,full growth may now be seen by anyone interested, at the publishing office ol the bTAR, Shoitland Street. . , ixn >•. '■ „i . .Star, September 4. - *