FARM & DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1919, Page 9

FARM & DAIRY.

A NEW FERTILISER The January issue of Chamberlain's Journal contains the following particulars of a new fertiliser:—"Fertilisers*will form one of tlie most pressing needs of the world in the future, unless new discoveries put an end to the present shortage. Hence the manufacture in Italy of a . E/übstunce known as 'tetraphosphate,' of which the fertilising qualities, are said to equal those of superphosphate, is of particular interest. The i process of manufacture is a simple one, the natural photphate roek being ground to powder, and roasted in a furnace for several hours at a temperature of from six hundred to eight hundred degrees centigrade. Before being roasted the ground roek is mixed with 6 per cent, of a reactive agent consisting of equal parts of calcium, sodium, and magnesium carbonate with a small proportion of sodium sulphate. The resulting concentrate contains 15 to 21 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and is reduced in strength for practical use by the addition of sand or dry earth.. A special commission appointed by the Italian Minister of Agriculture has: pronounced the fertilising" qualities of tetraphosphate to be at least equal to those of superphosphate, and the substance has the additional advantages of being free from'causticity, acidity, and deterioration.' Moreover, the cost of. the plant needed for the production is: only about 15 per cent, of that required for an equal output of superphosphate, while the process can be advantageously applied to minerals containing only low percentages of phosphorus. The process: has been patented, and is being exploited in Italy and other countries. According to the Canadian Trade Commissioner at Milan, eleven plants, with an annual output of about fifty thousand tons, are being operated in Italy, while four more are under construction. Another, near Luxor, on the Nile, is turning out twenty thousand tons a year, and at Kaseir, on the Red Sea, where a plant is being erected for working a very rich local rock, the yearly outturn is expected to reach two hundred thousand tons."

NOTES. Speaking at a meeting of wholesale milk sellers in Christchureh last week, Mr. H. Bliss.', jun., stated that owing to the high cost of winter production, dairymen, were keeping their cows in milk in the autumn months. It was necessary in order to encourage winter milking that a fair return should be obtained. He had estimated the cost of production during the Ave winter months.'. It would take two tons of hay for one cow at £4 10s a ton, mangels at 30s a ton, a cow cover (which would last two seasons) 15s, making a total cost of £ls 15s. He went on to say that during the winter a cow'f! milk output was low. Taking this at two gallons per day,, at Is 4d per gallon, there would be a return in the five months of £2O Bs, leaving a margin of £4 13s, On a 20-cow farm the return in five months would be £S3. Against this, labor at 30s per week would cost £4B, so that the return to the dairyman to meet his.' expenses was' £2 8s per week. In Wellington the wholesale price was Is Gd per gallon and Wellington city had to obtain part of its milk from Napier and part from Taranaki. A 'Wellington City Council committee had found that the shortage was due to the prices paid by the dairy factories in the summer, when the dairyman could obtain a flush of milk. This position was duplicated in Christchureh. The meeting decided to increase flic price of milk to Is 4d per gallon from Is June. An indication of the scarcity of winter feed in Southland is afforded by the price obtained for a field of turnips on the property of Mr. J. H. Dunn, of Pine Bush, six acres having been sold at £l4 an acre. This is understood to be a record for the district. The turnips were of the purple top and green Globe varieties, and were grown on ridge land. The crop was a good one for this season, though not above the average for previous years. Workers arc not tlow to find out wliere the biggest money can be earned. We are reliably informed that slaughtermen from the freezing works are leaving their jobs to go out into the country tc do the erutching, as they reckon they can earn as much as £2 per day (remarks the Farmers' Union Advocate). Farmers who are in need of crutchers might well consider the serious position that may arise, if this exodus continues. Many farmers have fat stock waiting to go into the works, and in numbers of localities the shortage of feed is forcing farmers to rush their stock in, and In fairness to them some discrimination should be used to discourage competent slaughtermen from leaving their present employment. Evidently the farmers are paying too big a price for the erutching, or else s.ome of them are selfishly trying to get their own work done at the expense of their unfortunate fellows, who are trying to avoid losses through drought. The maize crop in the United States shows a falling off this year as eompnred with 1917. According to the latest estimate, the yield was expected to aproximate 2,717>7. r >,ooo bushels, or about 441,000,000 less than last year. A revised official estimate of the Italian wheat yield shows that the previous forecasts were (rather too optimistic. The latest figures are 158,000,000 bushels', which still compares favorably with 140,000.000 bushels in 1917. An official return on wheat production in Uruguay shows that 350,000 tons, say, 11,250,000 bushels', were produced in 1917-18. The exportable surplus was (1,500,000 bushels, of which only onetenth had been shipped at the beginning of August. . , ' Ton shorthorn bullocks, three of which v.eighed over laewt. each, and five over 14cwfc were sold in England last November at record prices. They were all super-graded at 70s per live cwt., the highest price being £59 2s 9d, and the lowest £sl 15s Gd. The ten realised £552 3s Od. The commonest cause of itchiness in horses is due to lice. Tt is strange that the horse and cattle have no fleas of their own; though our pets, the dog and cat, often harbor many, and chickens, also rabbits', may be infested with them, they do not attack or live on the horse. Old cows consume a much greater amount of food than do young ones, and often without producing any adequate return; thus it is much better to rear a sufficient number of stock to come into the dairy each year to .replace those which, from age or not proving in calf, it is necessary to remove from the herd, I