THE FARM.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 39, 10 December 1920, Page 11

THE FARM.

(By "Furrow").

It is said that exposure to weather causes greater destruction to farm implements than using them. Avoid this loss by storing all machinery and tools properly nnder shelter. Anybody who has liad to handle cement or lime knows how unpleasantly dry aiid sore the hands get. Relief can speedily be ohtained if, when the job is finished, you get a basin of warm water, and with soap work up a good lather on the hands. Then take a teaspoou^-1 ^f sugar air.ong the lather, and work it into the hands and finger nails for a niinute before rinsing. The hands will then be quite clean and all soreness gone. In the State of Michigan, U.S.A., it is a common practice to mahe sorghum syrup take the place of sugar, says a writer in the "Sydney Mail." • The experimental farm there has turned ont greatly increased quantities lately, owing to the sugar .scarcity. The earl-y amber cane is said to be the most suitable ; but very great care must be exercised in the selection of good seed, or trouble will follow The general yield is about 16 gallons of syrup to the acre. Of course, there is a good deal of labour in the preparation, and probably when sugar becomes cheap again it would not pay to go in for it. The important Sout-h Island fixture at Invercargill, the Southland summer show, -on December 14 and 15, is again to witness the contest for the South island eups. Formerly in the south there was a championship cup for fe--males, but now there is a cup for both sexes. The first cup was won outright by Mr W. D. Hunt in 1918. Last year the first contest for the new cups was decided at Christchurch, when Mr John Grigg's Longbeach Big King was ehampion male, and Mr R. Mugford's Bounty Segis Maid, champion female. The Southland show promises to produce a great exhibition of ihe fancy this year, great interest having been roused in the South Island by the enterprise of southern breeders in providing prize-xnoney at this show totalling no less than £65 for Derby candidates competing in the yearlir.g class. Another fine prize competed for at this show is a rather unique trophy, called the Butter-fat Shield, and valued at 25 guineas. The contest for this trophy is decided 011 a basis of butter-fat backing coupled with the ability of the animal to sire dairy stock.

POTATO SPRAYING. The potato on the farm often fails to receive the all-necessary spraying that is requived to protect this crop from blight. | There are certain points in spraying that j are essential to sucee&s. They are : Spray j before blight appears. Spraying is a means of preventing the infection of the foliage, for once the disease has appeared it is almost as useless to spray as not to spray at all. Endeavour to apply the spray in dry weather, for when the mixture has j thoroughly dried 011 the foliage it does | not readily was.h off ; it then retains the | protection to the plant. The spraying must | be tho rough ; the pressure to secure the f all distribntion of the mixture must be maintained. The spray should cover the foliage from the top to the bottcm of the haulm. The upper and the lower sur- , faces of ev,ery leaf must be covered with : the spray ; each side is equally suseeptible ; to sporc infection. It- is smiply a waste j of time to half-spray. Spraying in time 1 saves the crop. It is not a question of increasing the yield, for there may be no crop to incfease without the spraying. 5 Spraying secures sound potatoes, and ! sound potatoes keep sound when they are ; stored. Use Bordeaux mixture, at a strength of from 41b to 61b of bluestone J and 41b of fresh liine to 40 gallons of I water. Keep the mixture well stirred. ; It is useless to spray with lime and sulphur as a potato blight preventive. W ATERPRG OFIN G CONCRETE. For the purpose of waterproofing ctrncrete there is nothing better than the commercial waterglass, which is a solution j of sodium silicate. Dilute the water-glass with four parts of soft water. Apply with a flat brush, thoroughly w.etting the surface. Another methocl is the use of copper sulphate, also known as hlue vitriol. One pound dissolved in 4 gallons of water and : applied the same as the water-glass will gi v-? excellent results. The sulphates of aluminium, zinc, or iron can also be used, but the copper solution is by far the cheap. est and most efficient. Water-glass is the best water-resisting agent, for its combination with the cal-

cium of the cement is a chemical one, forming an insoluble silicate of that element. Incidentally the water-glass may be coloured by mineral pigments, thus at the same time forming a waterproof colour for concrete. Well-painted farm buildings increase the borrowing capacity of their owuer.