10 March, 1917. J Mutl Ayriciillnral Society, t&c, Cornpetitioiin. 175 



worth while to grow small areas of siich crops for supplies of this kind 

 to the n)etro{X)lis. 



Such things are done at Echuca aud other uorthern places where 

 soil and climatic conditions are certainly not any better than those in 

 the Wimmera. 



In conclusion, I must thank your Society for tne honour conferred 

 upon me in requesting my services as judge for the third time in suc- 

 cession, but, much as I appreciate the compliment, I am doubtful if it 

 is altogether wise to have the same or any judge too often in the 

 interests of the competitions, and I would suggest that a change be 

 made, at any rate, for a year or two. On this occasion a representative 

 of one of the leading Melbourne weeklies went right through the .pro- 

 gramme during the judging, and expressed himself as delighted with 

 the experience gained. Such a precedent would be a wise one to follow 

 in future years, and an invitation from your Society to other leading 

 weeklies might lead to further advertisement of the Nhill district. 



I sincerely thank those gentlemen who so kindly conveyed the party 

 from place to place, and also those who so hospitably provided enter- 

 tainment. 



Excellent arrangements were made by Mr. Towns, your Secretary, 

 for the conduct of the judging campaign, much of the success of the 

 competitions being dependent upon his indefatigable efforts, which I 

 believe have been instrumental in carrying them on for the past sixteen 

 years. 



Yours faithfully, 



TEMPLE A. J. SMITH. 



NEW FERTILIZER. 



Experiments have recently been made upon the fertilizing value of 

 sodium ammonium sulphate as compared with ammonium sulphate. 



Owing to the scarcity of sulphuric acid sodium bi-sulphate is being 

 used to a large extent to absorb amtnonia. The material with which the 

 experiments were made contained 9 to 10 jier cent, nitrogen, and the 

 crops treated were rye, oats, barley and several varieties of beets and 

 cabbage. In every case ammonium and sodium ammonium sulphates 

 gave practically the same yields when equivalent amounts of nitrogen 

 were applied. 



— ?Jxti<ic1 from Journal Tnd. ajid Eng. Chem., Vol. 8, No. 11, 

 Nov., 1916. 



Ammonium sulphate is manufactured in Victoria. The supply is 

 more than equal to the demand. In the face of the recent remarkable 

 advance in price of this artificial fertilizer the above extract may pro- 

 vide material for consideration. 



