"THE CHEMISTRY OF AGRICULTURE." INTERESTING FACTS FOR FARMERS Auckland, August 14.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 291, 18 August 1888, Page 6

"THE CHEMISTRY OF AGRICULTURE." INTERESTING FACTS FOR FARMERS Auckland, August 14.

Mr J. A. I'onh delivered a lecture lastevening in the lecture-room, Museum Buildings, Princos-strcet, to the members of the Auckland Institute. Io took for his subject "The Chemistry of Agriculture." There was a vory good attendance. The chair was occupied by Professor Thomas, who briolly introduced the loctuier, Mr Pond was received with applause, lie said that the subject w asoneof vital interest to this colony, as New Zealand stood pieeminent in its returns irom agriculture. The- chemistry ot agricultiue extendod even to the life aud being of themselves. They could look round upon the vanous nations ot the world, aud they would hud that those wore the most powerful who were the beat nuitmed. They •would lequiio to first consider the primal y rocks, from which they obtained their plant-pioduoing soils. The speaker then pioduced a [)iecc of granite and various other rocks, which -were tho subsidiaiies ot the coil of the colony, lie said that the basalt of Mount Edon and the scoria formed some ol our best soil. Then they had their clay deposits, which, although not so fertile, weie still useful. He then desciibcd tho pioce-s of tho bi caking down ot rocks, and consequent formation ot plains and % alloys. He also mentioned that the ohiet ingiedients ot plant life were carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, aud nitrogen. In plant giowth they had the combination ot the larger proportion ot tho mateual lcquiicd loi the nuituic ol themselves and their animals. Ceitain ingredients woie discovered to be ab-olutely necessary lor the giowth ot the plant. Tho clue! thing requncd was. cvubon, which was> drawn Irom the atmospheie, and, combined with oxygen, formed the cell matter ot tho plant. By a series ot lnghly-intc.csting expeiirnents, the lectiuer showed how thecaibon might be lesolved again. He also explained the goi niinauon ol seeds, and pointed out the necessity for placing suitable soils in juxtaposition with the seed. Anolhei important item was nitrogen. The lobes of the pea contained nitrogen lequi*- to for the germination of the plant. It was tho »amc pietty well all through ntituic. The cg^i; contimed the supply of albumen tor tho chicken, and the ova ot tihh had the sac containing tho albumen foi tho young lish. Human beings absoibcd a certain amount of albuminoid 01 mtiogeneou-* matter from the atmospheie, but, ot couise, not sulhcient to keep up their powei. The amount of nitrogen le quired per acio was about 31b. The pumpkin, with a lcat surface of 10 square ieet, was capable of absorbing about half an ounce of .staieh during about 1U hours of daylight. Other plants &eoioted oil a.-, well as, or instead ot, starch. In then fanning rcqunementa, if they started with a rich .soil they would continue cropping until diminution ■warned them that they were drawing too heavily upon some particular item. Thciefore it was that alternate crops weie advocated. At length the soil would requiie one ot two things — oither rest or manuio. {Some soils would crop for a lengthened peiiod, but a timo would airivo when the growth of cereals would be diminished. In this- portion of New Zealand they had \ery varied soils. The three typical ones were the volcanic soils, tho Waitomata soils, and the Waikato soils, all ot which were capable of producing larjre crops. The Waikato soil, he conquered, would be valuable in the lntuie tor the growth ot cereals. The Waitemata, with proper cultnation, could also be made veiy produetne. The \olcanic soil — of winch Mount Eden was tho type — was well known to be very productive. In some poitions of the globe the soils weie natuially lenewed, a-? in deltas, which wcic occasionally Hooded, and places where -volcanic matter was deposited, ot n'hich Taiawera was an illustration, Phosphate was much needed in soils, and frequently lequiied to be added. lion Mas generally piec-ent in sulhcicnt quantities not to lequue adding. In a iccent analysis ot Waiivatu soil, he ,ound that the swampy aieas which weio so laige in the Waikato showed that while potash and phosphates weio pieseut in lai go quantities, lime and magnesia weie deficient. Thcieioj.o lime should be generously applied to those soil-,. He a 'so depiecated the binning oil ot the Waikato swamp-, f\-> the chemical action ensuing wa-, dolotcnous. Soil like that ot the U aikato, being hugely chained with phosphoi ie acid, must necessarily produce gi eat letuin^m root crops He had always tuged Waikato faimei.s to go into tljo production ot sugar boot, toi the lotuin^ mut-t be laigo. Some time ago a gentleman fiom r.clgium was hcic, aud had Paid that if the Go- \ eminent w ould only put on anothci halfpenny on sugai he would come out and go in tor the production ot beet sugar himself. Mr J/ond pointed out that the expoit ot wheat and frozen meat ,ncant the loss to the colony ot an enotmoub amount ot potash, winch could not well be replaced, lie also showed that dairy laiming watsa vain, as only hydio-caibon was scut away, fiat was .supposing that it was piopcily made. If thc\ , on tl.c other hand, t<cnt away cheese, they would be; sending away an amount of potash and ammonia j iv iact, it meant a loss to tho countiy in mauurial elements ot about ,C 4 per ton. It they giew linseed hcic tlicic would be no 10-s, as the soil would bu replaced by feeding animals A\ith tho liiu-ecd cake. Bioom com could easily be pioduccd heic, and then tobacco, but still they pietoried to impoit it. Fruits, both fie&h and canned, wei c also imported, instead of being pioduced here. '1 he tioubie was, that any man could be a fanner, while any man could not bo an artisan. In tho village- settlements he did not know what system of selection had been adopted, but ho did know that some ot those village scttlei.s had mo moie right to bo there than an online. The one groat defect in the picsuit educational system was the want ot agricultural knowledge. What they warned «;i.s (ho children to be taught the elements of agricultural chemisuy, which would be .so usetul to those who settled on the lands?. There should be ghon for this branch of education. Ho thought that one of the gieat diawback.s in the country was tho high wnges and shoit bovis ol city liic, which madeseitlcis object to woik irom 12 to 16 hours per day ior sma'l wages. The consequence was a depletion of tho country and a crirh in the town. Another gieat trouble was that nearly every farm was mortgaged, and hung like a mill-stone round the neck of the farmer and prevented progress. This must be done away with before agricultural chemistry could be learned. Profebsor Thomas said that while every energy was strained in the development of their mineral wealth, little or no attention Avas paid to the development ot their real wealth — agriculture. It was the same at tho public schools. WhiO the children wero taught all about Latin and CJreok roots, they learned nothing*about the roots of the ground, which were by tar the most

valuable. Every f armor shfiuldstudyhisown soil in order to give it that which was required. One reason why agriculture was not taught in the pchoolet was because Iho teach ors did not learn it, as it was 'not required by tho University of the colony. Mr Kolly, as an old farmer, said that no matter how much knowledge the faimer might have ot the chemistry of agriculture, he could not irako it pay as long a? land and labour wore too ckav to bo lemunerati\e. A vote of thanks, to tho locturor concluded the proceedings.