PHOSPHATE FOR TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1921, Page 4

PHOSPHATE FOR TARANAKI.

The discussion which took place at the recent meeting of the Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union relative to the advisability of establish-ng the requisite plant in Taranaki for reducing the Nauru rock phosphates to the pulverised form in which it would be available as plant food, was appropriate and timely. That phosphate is needed in this district, and would be a great boon if obtainable at a reasonable price, is beyond question, but the fear is lest there should practically be established a monopoly by those firms who instal the neeesary equipment for converting the rock into powder, and charge too high a price for the product. New Plymouth is particularly well placed for obtaining and treating the raw material, which could be landed at the wharf, trucked to a factory in the immediate vicinity, and from thence be distributed over a large portion of the North Island. If the farmers who own the local freezing works I combined to embark on this industry it would be to tlieir interest, and a good return for tlie extra capital employed would be assured, directly and indirectly. The meeting wisely decided to obtain some definite information from the Agricultural Department relative to the plant and the manufacture of superphosphate. Meanwhile the farmers of the province, and those outside who would benefit by the manufacture, would be well advised to give the matter serious consideration, for it is certain that they would get the manure much cheaper and have a more reliable supply if they treated the raw material at works owned by themselves than if dependent on the commercial enterprise of private firms, who would naturally be out to make as large a profit as possible for themselves.