SOIL AND HEALTH
Sir,-I listened with interest to the /recent Lincoln College Talk by L. W. | McCaskill and I. D. Blair. Here at last would be the evidence I have waited for, to allow me to sprinkle artificial fertilisers on my vegetables with a_ light heart. We had an entertaining talk, some ridicule of opponents, a great many personal opinions, but where was the evidence? The "compostors," they say, accuse these "artificials’ of killing the. (continued on next page)
(continued, from previous page) micro-organisms and earthworms in the soil. Well, do they? and if so, is it harmful? We are not told. The experiments quoted dealt with hydroponics, a method of growing which does make an attempt to provide the plant with every posssible element it might need. This would not seem to be exactly comparable to growing plants in land to which has been added, over a long term, a limited number of minerals only. This may have no deleterious effect, but it does not follow a priori. It is explained that since produce is exported the minerals lost must be replaced. This is a fact that has to be faced, but it does not prove that arti"ficial manures are not Mjurious to our health. Perhaps they should be used with the utmost discrimination, or perhaps new and less harmfub methods of application could be devised. What we want are the facts of the matter, which could only be determined by long-term and carefully controlled experiments. _Personal opinions and soothing statements are not scientific fact.
PUZZLED
LAYMAN
(Lower Hutt). ----»
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 425, 15 August 1947, Page 28
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260SOIL AND HEALTH New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 425, 15 August 1947, Page 28
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