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THE FLESHERTON ADVANCE. FARMING In this dapartment each week will be given general Information to farmers and 8tocl<nien. No attempt will be made to criticize the work already being done by Canadian farmers; but an effort will be made to present to the farmers of the country summarized information contained in government reports, and the actual experiences of men and women who have achieved success in farming by following modern methods. Farmers who have found new "wrlnlcles" or have made a success in any special line of agriculture are invited to send short letters to this paper giving their experiences, or criticizing any of the information contained in these columns. Development of Water Power Great Activity in Canada in Developing Hydro- Electric Energy. BIG POTATO CROP WOULD PAY WELL This is Indicated by the Price of Seed. Vegetable Growing CAEEOTS. Carrots belong to the root crop of garden vegetables. They are grown to a great extent by all vegetable growers as a source of income during the winter months. They are easily grown, require very little cultivation, and usually bring in fair returns for the labor that is put into them. This crop, if grown in the kitchen garden, will provide a vegetable noted for its health -giving properties throughout the winter. SoiL This vegetable thrives in a good- well-drained mellow sandy loam. A sandy loam will produce the smooth- est and straightest roots. Very heavy clay tends to make the roots rough and rather stumpy. The soil should be free from all weeds, for a good crop of weeds will very often smother a good crop of carrots if careful attention is not given. The soil should be of a good condition, and should have plenty of manure applied to it in the fall. Preceding this crop fresh manure ap- plied in the early spring will usually give a crop of knotty carrots. Eotten manure will be found to be best for this crop on account of number of weed seeds usually found in fresh ma- nure. It is claimed that liming a car- rot ground has no effect on the crop whatever. Planting. Carrots are planted in rows on the level, usually two and a half feet apart for horse cultivation, and in a market or kitchen garden in rows 12 to 15 inches apart. An ordinary seed drill is used, and it is advisable to plant a few lettuce seeds as a row . mark so that cultivation can com- mence before the carrot seed germin- â- Ma. Plant as early in the spnug a the soil permits for an early crop, successive sowings may be made if desired every week or ten days until July 1st. Plants should be thinned to one inch in the row. For late or fall crop sow seed June 1st to 15th. Cultivation. This crop should be cultivated only sufficient to keep down the weeds and keep the soil tine and loose. This can be done by means of wheel hoe, hand hoe, and "horse cultivator. The seed takes a long time to germinate, and the seedlings ara very slender. For these reasons weeds should be kept re- moved from the rows until the crop is firmly established. The soil should be kept well over the top of root to pre- vent greening. Harvesting. Small carrots for the early market are usually thinned out of the patch that is grown for winter storing. They are pulled out by hand when they are fit for use (one inch in diameter). For the main crop they are usually pulled Iv hand and topped with a sharp knife. In large nelJs they are usually piled in the field and covered with the tops and hauled to the cellars when the whole field is topped. Harvesting of . carrots is usually the last job done on a garden vegetable in the fall. Marketing. Early carrots are sold in bunches consisting of from five to eight clean, medium sized carrots, haviug the tops left on. As the season advances the number in the bunch increases. Win- ter carrots are sold in bushel boxes or ordinary bags. Storing. Carrots may be stored satisfactorily in bulk or pits or in cool cellars. No heat should reach them and the win- dows should be darkened. The utilization of water-power in Canada is advancing even more rapidly than heretofore. IJuring 1919, the in- stallation of plants with a total of 64,400 h.p. was completed in various portions of the Dominion; the develop- ments at present under construction or 2,400,000 h.p. If we assume for thij country only one-half the rate of in- crease for the United States, a total of 4,800,000 h.p. would be developed in ' In the fact that seed potatoes are selling at around .*5.25 per bag throughout Ontario, is an indication that production of a much greater crop this year would result in great bene- ten years and 9,600,000 h.p. in twenty years, if available. j The resources actually available to I CauUflOTirer. This is another member of the cab- bage family, and is probably the one which has "the finest quality and also the one which requires the most care- ful attention during the growing sea- son. Cauliflower is grown by all mar- ket gardeners, and i<» grown on large acreages for pickling factory purposes. Cauliflower, as a general rule, is a crop which gives excellent returns on the market. There are exceptions to this rule, but well bleached heads of fine quality and medium size find a ready sale on local markets. Caulitiower is harder to grow than cabbage, though many operations arc similar. Soil. The soil for early cauliflower shoul I be warm, full of humus and moisture. A soil which dries out quickly should not be used for growing this crop. There must be abundance of humus or vegetable matter in the soil, and this can be secured by large applications of manure. Growing Young j .auis. Cauliflower plants are grown iu practically the same way as cabbage plants, although they arc more subject to damping off. i'or this reason it is advisable to sterilize the soil in which the vouug plant is to be grown. This is described iu a previous paragraph. The seed should be sown in flats from the Iflt of March to the 15th. To pro- duce plants which will mature in -Vu- gust, seed is often sown in cold frames as 8on as spring opens up. The ;.o'l should have a large percentage of sand in it for best results. As a general ruV the flat method of growing is consid- ered the best. Solid beds cannot be controlled as easily and the plants seem to be more liable to damp off and draw. The plants should be transplanted when the rough leaf appears and can be set in flats or in two-inch pots. If so desired, the plants ean be trans- planted twice. Some growers follow this rule and others are content with but one lifting. Certainly the strong- er and larger the plant is when it is transplanted into the open, the earlier the crop and the better the quality of vegetable. For late crop, seed is sown outdoors as directed for cabbage, up to May 24th or June loth. Manuring. As a general rule, it is best to ma- nure the season previous for this crop, or at least cultivate the manure in the fall previous. While many follow the practice of spring and winter manur- ing on the cauliflower land, it is gen- erally taken for granted that the ap- plication of fresh manure is not good practice. Xitrate of soda may be used to advantage during the early growth of this plant, but should not be ap- plied after the plant commences to head up. Planting in tAe Field. The early crop of cauliflower is usu- ally planted 18 inches apart in rows JO to 36 inches apart. They should be planted fairly deep, but not to cov- er the leaves,, and the dibber is the best tool to use. For the main crop the plants can be dibbled in two feet by three feet, or can be planted with a horse transplanter. In both eases as much soil as possible should be retained around the roots when planting. It is a good plan to water each hole before the plant is set, or at least have the earth around the roots thoroughly soaked. Cultivation. This crop should be cultivated suf- ficiently to keep the soil in a fine con- dition. As a general rule, the scut- fler should be used every week or ten days and always to loosen up the soil after each rain. Cauliflower growers claim the more cultivation given, the better the crop will be. Hand hoeing will be necessary only once if the soil is fairly free from weeds. Harvesting and Marketing. When the plant starts to head up and when the head is not more than one and a half inches in diameter, the leaves should be so arranged as to keep the sun from getting in at the flower. In the first stages a leaf or two may be broken over the young head, but as the flower grows, it is advisable to gather the leaves in at the top and tie them with string or raffia. This should be done carefully so as to ex- clude all light or rain. As a general rule, a gardener will go over his patch of caulitiower twice or three times a week in order to ensure tieing up the plant at the proper stage of growth. When the head is sufficiently large it should be cut away from the root and the leaves trimmed so that a fringe of leaves is left one and a half inches above the flower all the way round. All dead or withered leaves should be removed. Careful trimming always improves the appearance of the market- able head and ensures top price. For the local markets the cauliflow- er is usually sold by the dozen heads, which are packed iu bushel boxes or strawberry crates. Cauliflower will not stand rough usage, and for this reason the.v must be very carefully packed if they are to be shipped any distance. Some grow- ers cover the flower with white tissue paper and pack the heads in hay or ex- coKior in slat crates, or well ventilat- ed barrels. It is imperative that there should be no rubbiug of one head agaiust another, for this will damage botU and cause a rot to set in. Storing. Cauliflowers are not easily stored for any length of time. Some grow- ers, however, annually store some in their cellars for Christmas trade. The plants which have but small heads are lifted roots and all and replanted in fine moist sand in a cool cellar. The heads will grow if the cellar is kept cool, but very often they commence to rot and the plants cannot be used. Cauliflower can also be pitted in the same way as cabbage. Thoy should not be piled in too large quantities, for the cauliflower will start to heat in storage more readily than cabbage. Very little dirt should be used as a covering at the start, barely enough to Iv-n-p out the frost. More should In- added as the colder weather advances PRESENT FACTS ON SHOE COSTS Canadian Factories Pay Six Times More for Raw Materials and Profits Are Less. MISSISSAai EIVEE, ONT., AXTBEET FALL AND EAPIDS, FALL OF 117 FT in process of installation aggregate over 370,000 h.p. Other projects defi- Ditelv contemplated for the near future will 'add 750,000 h.p. Among the more notable develop- ments are the 200,000 Chippewa plant of the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission, now under construction, to utilize the full head of Niagara power, and the impetus given by the Quebec Government to the conserva- tion of water by storage. Much activ- ity is also to be noted in the Mari- time provinces. This rapid progress, which repre- sents industrial growth of the most valuable character, should be encour- aged, .vet most carefully guided. In the I'nited States electrical installa- tions have doubled every five years, while in Canada, the present hydro- electric installation is about ten times meet future demands are indicated in the following table of the estimated developed and undeveloped water power in Canada. An attempt has been made to separate available sites within that of 1900. The present hydraulic installation in the Dominion is nea -'v the populated areas from those farther north. Available Water Powers. Estimated Available Total Possible Province. h.p.; or District. Maritime Prov- inces 403,000 Quebec 6,000,000 Ontario 5,800,000 PrairieProvinces 3,479,000 (British Columbia 3,000,000 Yukon and Ter- ritories 150,000 fit to both producer and consumer. The former could afford to take a slightly lower price while the latter would cer- tainly welcome the same. That On- tario farmers would run little risk of flooding the market is indicated in the interest being aroused by the superior quality that has begun to show in the potato crop of the province within the [/ast few years. There was a time, not many years ago, when the potato grower who re- ceived 40 cents per bushel for his crop was well satisfied with his re- turns, provided he could grow some- thing in the neighborhood of 200 bush- els to the acre, but even where the yield has kept up to that level profit- able production at the price mentioned is an impossibility nowadays. Within the last 10 years insects and fungous diseases have increased very consider- ably, necessitating the taking of spe- i-ial precautions to combat these pests, while more lately the labor cost has proved the greatest item of expense to the grower. In 1915 the record of cost of producing potatoes at sev- eral of the Dominion experimental farms showed that the entire cost of growing and marketing a 300-bushel crop was about .380.58 per acre. This was iu a year when the price of seed was low â€" and it must be admitted that 300 bushels per acre is well above the average farm yield of potatoes. In 1917, when the cost of seed was in i about what it is this year, .360 per Populated 'I'^re was added to the cost of produc- Area tio°> °^ account of the seed item. The h.p.* I grower who this past year sold his po- j tatoes in the general market can esti- 354,300 mate from the above figures what 2,600,000 1 chance of profit he has in purchasing 2,'800,'000 ' 653,360 990,000 t Total 13,832,000 / .398,160 •Minimum all year power, with possi- ble regulated flow where investigated. Figures for some of the rivers in- cluded may vary as additional in- formation is secured from future de- tailed surveys, flow records and con- servation storage investigations. tXot including Cngava. 5.000,000 h.p. south of the 50th paraUel. {Available possibilities not definitely known. CAMPBELL EEMOVING THE MALE BIBD. The Canadian Produce Association desires to bring to the attention of all poultry producers the advisability and necessity of removing male birds from the flock immediately the breed- ing season is closed, and the Federal Department of Agriculture will assist the Association by the publication and widest distribution of timely press notices and articles. Many hundreds of thousands of dol- lars are lost annually in Canada through deterioration in fertile eggs during the hot weather. This loss Canada cannot afford, nor can the pro- ducer. Many producers ma.v iu prev- ious seasons have been able to dispose of all their eggs â€" good and bad â€" but the time is fast approaching when all bu.vers will handle on a loss off basis, and first handlers and producers will be called upon to meet the bad egg loss. The male bird is not a necessary factor in egg production, he is needed to reproduce the species but that work may be and should be confined to two or three months in the spring, after which it will be to the advantage of all to "Swat the Rooster". .\ storage hatter.v will run down quickly if the terminals occasionally 1 touch the cover of the steel retaining box. seed at existing prices if his crop proves a success. If he can reasonably expect to grow 300 bushels to the acre he ean look forward to a nice cash return at the price for commer- cial potatoes that exist today. Labor Costs Advance. Unfortunately for the grower, how- ever, there is a great advance in labor costs to be figured in with the expenses of production. In fact, the main aim of the potato grower these days should be to reduce the labor cost, and if he is looking for any success in this di- rection he must place his dependence on the employment of the latest thing in the wa.v of potato-growing machin- ery. In these times, the only opera- tions in connection with potato grow- ing that can be done to good advan- tage by hand are the cutting of the seed and the picking up of the pota- toes; even the latter can be dispensed with to advantage in big operations. A good, up-to-date machine will not only save time in planting potatoes, but will do more even and thorough work than the best man, while the dig- iZiig machine specially constructed for this purpose can be depended on to bring up every worth-while tuber and la.v it on top of the ground â€" clean and '.iss bruised than if the work were done !\v a man with either single plow, dou- ble moldboard plow or fork. The ma- â- iiine digger will work to best advan- tage where a machine has been used iu planting as, with the machine the depth of planting is more evenly maii;- tained than is the case where the seed is planted in a furrow opened with the plow. Prevent Diseases. An essential to success in potato- growing is that the seed be free of dis- ease and, as certain diseases can be controlled only by disinfecting the seed tubers, it is the part of wisdom to not neglect this practice whenever seed is being prepared for planting. Formaldehyde and corrosive sublimate are most commonly used for disinfect- ing seed tubers. They are generally ccnsidersd about equally effective against common scab, but corrosive sublimate is more affective against rhi- sictonia, the fungus that is responsible for russet scab, rosette and drv stem rot. The solutions used for disinfecting seed tubers are as follows: Formaldehyde solution â€" Formalde- hyde (40 per cent, solution) 1 pint, water 30 gallons. Soak the tubers in this solution for two hours. The solution may be used repeatedly, 30 gallons will treat about .SO bushels. Corrosive sublimate (poison) â€" Cor- rosive sublimate 4 ozs., water 30 gal- lons. Dissolve the corrosive sublimate in j5 gallons of water, then add 25 gal- lons of water. Soak the tubers an hour and a half. This solution weak- ens after five or six lots of seed and should be renewed. Do not use metal containers. "Do .vou find married life the grand, sweet song you expected?" i The enjoyment of beautiful flowers "Well, it is at least a grand re- '^ common to all the inhabitants of It is well to inclose the electric wires at the points where they are held to the iron frame with rubber tubing. The tubing may be slit to admit the wire an^l then be clamped to the frame. To guard against gritt.v substances, dust the reflectors carefully with a small feather duster or with soft cot ton. Wet a piece of absorbent cotton with grain alcohol, if such can be pro- cured, and wipe the reflector from the bulb socket outward and dry with a clean piece of dry cotton. WHAT'S THIS? Senator Arthur Capper, in an article states that the average buying power in the April issue of the Journal of the Amercan Bankers' Association, of the United States farmer has In- creased during the last four years from $1,600 to $3,400 per year, an ad- vance of over 100 per cent., whereas the average buying power of a city man still remains approximately at $900 per year. NOT JUST THE SAME. frain." "Kef rain?" "Yes; I'm called upon to refrain from smoking, refrain from cards, re- frain from going to the Japan. Even the humble laborer is a customer at the gardens where flow- ers are kept for sale. Some forty miles from Barcelona lodge, and , there is an actual mountain of very when there isn 't anything in particu- pure salt, which is hewn out in the lar to refrain from, just to refrain." open air. like stone from a quarry. The Canadian Beconstruction Asso- ciation has just completed a survey of the boot and shoe manufacturing in- dustry in Canada. Among the findings of its investigation are the following: 1. From an industry represented in 1667 by twenty shoemakers operating on the handicraft principle, without machinery, boot and shoe manufactur- ing has developed until to-dav there are in Canada about 160 factories, re- presenting an investment of close to $35,000,000, giving emplovment to more than 14,000 persons, paving more than 810,000,000 annually in wages, and buying materials to the value of more than 127,000,000 an- nually, much of which is produced by other Canadian industries employing Canadian labor. 2. The net factory selling value of leather boots and shoes produced in Canada annually is now about 850,- 000,000. 3. Canadian boot and shoe manu- facturers make approximately 93 par cent, of all the boots and shoes worn in Canada and in addition have de- veloped an export trade which last year exceeded the value of imports. 4. The production of the average shoe factory in the United States is double that of the average shoe fac- tory in Canada, and one company in the United States manufactures aa many leather boots and shoes as all the Canadian plants combined. 0. Boot and shoe factories in the United States could manufacture in about 17 .lays as jiany boots and «hoes as all the Canadian factories make in a year, and in 18 or 19 days they could make all the leather foot- wear requirements of the Canadian population. 6. The advance in the prices of boots and shoes in Canada has not been as great as the increase in the general level of prices. Indeed, it has been less on a percentage basis that the advance in the cost of materials en- tering into the production of such foot- wear. 7. Three square feet of leather are needed for the manufacture of a single pair of women's boots. Fine glazed kid now costs the Canadian manufac- turer between .31.73 and §2 per foot, as compared with 2G cents per foot in 1914- The leather alone for the uppers of a pair of fine women 's shoes now costs between .35-25 and -36. Be- sides, all other materials used, includ- ing sole leather, welting, linings, etc., now tost the manufacturer from two to six times what they cost in 1914. 8. With one exception there have been no important combinations in the Canadian boot and shoe industry, and the keenest kind of competition pre- vails. 9. There ia not a single millionaire in the shoe manufacturing industry in Canada. 1 0. Profits on turnover run from almost zero to a maximum of about ten per cent. Few concerns have been making more than five per cent, on their turnover. Where larger profits have been made during the war they have resulted from increased business rather than from a higher percentage of profit on each unit of output. With possibly one exception, no Canadian boot and shoe manufacturer made a net profit of more than 16 cents per pair on arm.v boota, and the average did not exceed 1 cents per pair. Many of the manufacturers actuaUy lost money. In 1914. average net profits in the industry were not more than 2-65 per cent, on turnover, or 2.91 per cent, on capital invested. The average profit on turnover for 1918» as shown by careful analysis of the earnings of a number of representative firms, was only 5.37 per cent, on turn- over and less than 7'"j per cent, on capital invested. 11. So keen has been the competi- tion in boot and shoe manufacturing in Canada that a carefully prepared list contains the names of considerably more than I (10 firms which have closed their doors during the past thirt.v years b.v reason of financial difficulties. The records of a single Canadian sole lea- ther factory show 38 insolvent Can- adian boot and shoe manufacturing establishments in which the leather company has been interested as a creditor. 1 2. With a few exceptions, a manu- facturer 's uet profit on a pair of boots selling wholesale at $10 and retailing at perhaps SI 5, is less than 55 cents. On lower priced footwear, the profit is proportionately less, and one fac- tory making staple lines averaged a profit in 1918 of less than 9 cents per pair on a turnover of 50.000 pairs. THE MOTORCTCLE. ' ' A motoroyclo is a bicvcle with a pandemonium attachment, designed for the especial use of mech.anical geni- uses, daredevils and lunatics. A good machine can be purchased for §150. However, if the devotee does not pos- sess .'?150, he can get almost as good results by drinking a little lubricating oil, inhaUng a vacuum cleaner, and set- ting off two bushels of firecrackers be- tween his legs." Gas light was tirst used in 1798.