Notes. 15 



compete favourably with Continental growtlis. They gave the opinion 

 that the competition is of practical benefit to the trade, and proves 

 that South Africa and Australia are capable of producing wines that 

 can compare very favourably in quality and style with those of 

 other countries. An oversea trade in our wines is a patent necessity, 

 but it is still very much in the pioneer stage. Those engaged in the 

 industry, therefore, should seize every opportunity of establishing 

 a good name on the English market. A most important considera- 

 tion in this connection is pointed out in the last report of the judges 

 to be that of cost of production which must be at a price that will 

 create a ready demand, and competitors, it is noted, are invited to 

 state the stock they hold of each sample sent in for competition, and 

 the price at which they are willing to sell the same. It may also be 

 pointed out that in the report referred to above, the judges gave it 

 as their opinion, on the Avines as exhibited, that those most likely to 

 be popular in Great Britain would be of the full Claret or Burgundy 

 type. 



The Altered Composition of Basic Slag. 



Basic slag, a by-product from the manufacture of steel, is a 

 fertilizer rich in lime and phosphates, and large quantities are 

 imported into the Union, as will be seen from the following table, 

 which gives the importations in cons of 2000 lb. : — 



These quantities, however, are still far below what it is estimated 

 the Union requires annually of this fertilizer, the conditions set up 

 by the war and the high prices which followed being the cause of 

 the decreased importations. Basic slag is being' used chiefly for 

 gram crops in the south-west districts of the Cape Province, the chief 

 wheat-producing area of the Union, where it is a valuable fertilizer 

 for sour soils : it is found useful also in maize growing in certain 

 of the soils of the Transvaal, but it is not extensively employed for 

 this purpose at present, for economic reasons. 



Anything concerning an article of such importance in South 

 xifrican agriculture as basic slag (known also as Thomas' phosphate 

 or Thomas' slag), will be of interest to farmers, and an article on 

 the subject, written by Dr. Juritz, the Chief, Division of Chemistry, 

 is jjublished in this issue of the J ournal. For since the war a con- 

 siderable change has come over the composition of basic slag, owing 

 to a new process being employed in steel manufacture, with the 

 result. that the character of the by-product has been entirely altered, 

 iis phosphate content having been halved. This, of course, aftects 

 the value of basic slag, and experiments are being carried out in 

 England with a view, among other objects, to increasing the quality 

 and quantity of slag produced by combining with the ordinary manu- 

 facture of steel some subsidiary process. A stage of finality has not 

 yet been arrived at in the adjustment of the matter under the 



