LIME AS A MANURE FOR WAIKATO.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2250, 9 December 1886, Page 2

LIME AS A MANURE FOR WAIKATO.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — I am indebted to Mr Maxwell for the following letter, received in reply to my enquiries re lime for farmers' use. From enquiries I have made I fully believe that the reason superhosphates are so valuable to Waikato is owing to a deficiency of soluble lime in the rich compost of the ' vast geyser deposits which constitute the soils of the middle and upper Waikato basins ; and it will be found that by a bountiful dressing of common fat lime, together with a proportion of salt, (another deficiency in our Waikato soil) the fertility of the district will be visibly and permanently increased, and the more expensive manures economised, if not actually dispensed with. I would commend the information conveyed in Mr Maxwell's letter to the T« Awamutu and Waipa folk, for I think Te Awamutu and Ngaruawahia would be the best site* for lime kiln*, Ngaruawahia being available to the Waipa by water and the limestone, and Te Awamutu being within easy distance by rail of the limestone country in the Kuiti district. If abattoirs could be erected under the auspices of the Waikato farmers and the animal manures saved to the district, it would be a sure if slow road to renewed activity and confidence — at any rate it would form one strand in the rope which hab yet to be woven to pull the farmers through the mire. — Yours respectfully William A. Graham. Hamilton, December Bth. (Enclosure.] Railway Department Head Office, Wellington, December 2, 1886. To Mr W. A. Graham. Dear Sir, —The lime-burner in the South to whom I referred is Mr Macdonald, of Milburn, which is on the railway-line, about 30 mil« 3 South of Dunedin. The limestone is alongside the railway, and Mr Macdonald has constructed a siding to the kilns, which are at the quarries. The coal used is slack or dross from the coal mines, like the waste which is thrown away at Huntly. I believe this dross is sold at a very low rate, probably about 2a a ton. It is carried by rail 14 miles to Milburn for burning lime, the freight being 2s a ton. The Milburn lime is ricii and well adapted for agricultural purposes. This is a point on which your geological people could inform you. If you sent a specimen to the Wellington Museum to Dr Hector he could inform you if the lime is fit for agriculture, which you have in view. Tho Milburn lime is distributed by rail for agricultural purposes distances of (>0 miles around. At this distance the freight i* about 7s 0d a ton. For building purposes it is carried as far as Christchurch, 2(55 miles by rail. You would have the same railage charges both for coal and agricultural lime in the Waikato as in the South. I could not tell you what the cost of turning out lime would be— that, I conclude, Mr Macdonald would be unlikely to communicate, but his business is large, and he has been very successful financially I am told. Your kilns you would have to get an estimate for from a local architect or engineer, as the cost of theso things depends wholly on local conditions. An a rule I have always seen the kilns placed at the quarry so th.it the limestone is put direct from the quarry into the kiln. The lime is usually unloaded from the kiln into the trucks for conveyance. Whether it would be better to place your kiln at the quarry and distribute the lime wholly by rail, or whether it would be better to place the kiln in a central position whence lime might be carted to farms around as well as sent by rail, is a question which persons with local knowledge could b«jst settle, You would want to carry your dross for burning by rail, and the kilns ought to be connected by a siding with the railways. I hope you will succeed in establishing something of this kind. If you can carry your limestone by water down the Waipa I should think that Ngaruawahia or Huntly would be good places to fix kilns, but all these points require local information aud If no w}edge>— I remain yours faithfully, J. P. Maxwjsll.

See J. Cochranes new advertisement in this issue. Mr S, IVfcl/ernon, jeweller and watchmaker, Hanriton, invites inspection of his valuable stock of watGhes, rich jewellery, silver and electoro plateware, clocks, optical goods, pianos, cutlery, etc., etc. Messrs A. Buckland and Co. will sell at Waitoa fchig day, 230 head of cattle, IGOO fat and store sheep, black mare, etc., etc. On Saturday, the 18th, they wjll hold their usual sales of cattle and horses at Cambridge. 250 head of cattle, beef, dairy cowe, fat and store sheep and 70 horses ai o entered. On Tuesday, the 21st inst., they wili offer at Ohaupo 600 head of mixed cattle, bcof, dairy cows, etc, otc.