Start With the Best.

“A little consideration shows the soundness of that view. If one assumes that the application of 2 cwt. of superphosphate to the acre will result in a 100 per cent, increase of grass growth, it is clear that a far greater profit will be secured by using that phosphate on the portion of the farm carrying two sheep to the acre than on the part which averages only half a sheep to the acre. In the one case 2 cwt. of phosphate means two additional sheep and in the other only half of an additional sheep.

“This proper understanding of the most advantageous top-dressing—beginning with the best land—must apply particularly to those areas where serious deterioration has set in. The recovery of that land to its former productiveness—and in many cases to a productiveness far above its former volume—will be achieved by the practical application of the basic top-dressing principle—treatment of the best land first. On every deteriorated farm in New Zealand there are areas—in every case the better grass land—which will show an immediate profit from top-dressing. These better parts must be treated first, in order to provide the funds necessary for the gradual regeneration of the whole holding. Failure, undoubtedly, will follow any attempt to deal with the worst areas first.

What is true of the deteriorated lands is true also of the average farm, for here, too, the largest initial return from top-dressing is derived from good grass land rather than from bad.”

“When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilisation.”—Daniel Webster.