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THE PLESHERTON ADVANCE. Pttf e, Clean, Economical Preserved & sold only 'm Seeded eur-tight packets to preserve its native goodness. II SiUDA Used in Millibns of Tea-^Pots Daily BEST WAYS OF DIGGING ' AND STORING POTATOES By W. T. Macoun, Dominion Horti-| culturitt. The best time to dig potatoes, if they are not affected with late blight or rot, is as soon as the tops haye died. K tke weather is dry or where the tops remain green until killed by frost, the digging should be delayed until that time, as during September then 1b oBea a great development of tubers. Where potatoes are grown on the av«rage farm the digging is usaal- ly left as a matter of convenience un- til after the com is harvested, where that crop is grown, as. when the tubers are covered with soil, the latter may be fvoaen aa inch or so in depth, with- out the crop being injured. Potatoes should not, however, be left in the grotmd when there is danger of the ground freezing to a greater depth. When the soil is fairly well drained and Qoi particularly wet the digging may b« delayed for a month or more without much injury to the crop if the tubers are healthy: however, where there b »o disease the sooner the po- tatoes are dug. after the tops are dead, the better. Potatoes which have been killed by late blight will usually rot as soon as the condltioBs are favorable, and for this reas«B it is better to leave a diseased crop in the ground as long as possible, as the tubers which are dis- eased -will, most of them, show signs of rot before they have to be taken up on account of frost, and they need not be gatliered. It diseased potatoes are dog and stored as soon as the tops are deatf. the disease will be almost certaiB to develop in the pit or cellar, and healthy tubers will rot from con- tact with the diseased ones. It is not good practice to dig diseased potatoes early and pile them in the field. It is better to delay digging as long as pos- sible and then put the potatoes in a cool, well-ventilated cellar where the disease may be checked. Potatoes in wet soil should be dug sooner than those in that which is drier and well drained. Potatoes should be dug in dry weather, so that when they are taken to the cellar or store room they will be perfectly dr>-. It the tubers are housed when wet. the conditions be- come very favorable for the develop- ment of any disease which may affect them and for the rotting of the healthy potatoes from contact with those thus affecte*. Where there are large areas to he dug a gocKl potato digger is essential. Not only will a potato digger raise the crop more economically than a fork or plough, but with it the grower is more likely to get his crop dug and picked up while the weather is fine, which is a great consideration. There are a number of good potato diggers now on the market which will dig up and leave on the surface of the soil practi- cally an the tubers. Ploughing potatoes out is Quite a common method among farmers, but in plou.shing them out there is always a considerable number of potatoes left in the ground, and the additional lat)or required to pick up these potatoes which are scattered all over the field after harrowing is an item. The old-fashioned, yet thorough. way of digging with the four-tined po- tato fork is too slow and expensive a method, now that good men are diffi- cult to get and wages are so high, but where these do not have to be taken into consideration as good or better work is done by a man than by any implememt. A man with a fork will dig llttl© more than halt an acre a day; a good potato digger will dig frf>m three to five acres a day. Storing Potatoes. Potatoes should be stored dry in a cool, well-ventilated cellar which is perfectly dark. There is no doubt great losses occur every year from the careless storing of wet potatoes in comparatively warm and poorly venti- lated cellars and piled in great heaps, giving ideal conditions for the de- velopment of any disease which may be In them and very favorable condi- tions for rotting. The expense of pro- viding a good system of ventilation tor a cellar would be soon offset by the better condition in which the pota- toes would keep; hence the more prof- it there would he from them. Should it be considered unwise to go to this expense, every effort should he made to have as free air circulation about the potatoes as possible. Instead of piling the potatoes against the wall or on the floor, slats should be nailed a little apart about six inches or more from the wall. This will give circula tion of air behind the pile. .\ tempor- ary floor should be put down about six inches above the permanent floor, with cracks between the boards. This will permit air to circulate under and through the pile. Then it the piles have to b© made very large, square ventilators of wood made of slats and running from the top to the bottom of the pile could be put In here and there through the pile These with the ven- tilation afforded at the sides and bot torn will keep the potatoes in a much better condition than It they were In a solid pile. Another good plan is to keep the potatoes in large crates made with slats. The ventilation between these crates would assist very much in keeping the tubers in good condi- tion. Thousands of bushels of pota- 1 toes are lost every year, when there is 1 disease in the crop, by neglecting ven- tilation. The temperature of the cel- lar or store-house should be kept as nearly 33 degrees to 35 degrees F. as possible. The cooler potatoes are kept â-  without freezing the better. Not only is the value of the tubers for seed less- ened by sprouting, but they are also ; much injured for eating. Moreover, if ' the potatoes are held over to sell in the spring, sprouting will cause a ' great deal of shrinkage in weight. It is important to have some means of letting an abundance of fresh air into the cellar towards spring, when it be- comes more difficult to keep the pota- toes in good condition. Cool air should be let in at night when the outside temperature is lowest and the cellar should be kept closed during the day Temporary Storage. Sometimes it is difficult to set all the crop to the cellar at digging time, and when this is the cse the potatoes may be put in piles of forty or fifty 'â- â-  bushels in a place where water will ! not lie and covered with straw, with a i little earth on top to j^eep them dry, ' more earth being put over the straw 'â-  if the weather becomes cold. If the potatoes are diseased, however, it is i not safe to pile them in this way. and ; even if they are healthy, piling in the field should be avoided if at all possi- ble, as the crop is much easier to handle afterwards in the cellar than outside in the cold, perhaps inclement, weather. If potatoes are found to be diseased at digging time, a good plan is to fix up a place in the barn whe it is quite dry and where frost can kept out for a time and spread the tatoes in shallow piles. Many persons are growing potatoes ; for the first time this year in either • small or moderately large quantities. The methods just described can be used by such persons in many cases. In other cases the quantity grown be- ing quite small, can all be stored in the cellar as soon as the potatoes are ' dug. In storing in the cellar it is ! better to keep the potatoes in boxes or ' crates rather than in bags, as the lat- | ter are liable to rot. Moreover, when ' the potatoes start to sprout, as they will do during the winter, they will be more quickly noticed when in boxes and the sprouts kept removed The â-  oftener the sprouts are removeii. when they appear, the better the potatoes will keep, but where possible the po- tatoes should be kept so cool and in } such a dark room that they will not i sprout. Before storing even small ; quantities of potatoes it is desirabJ? to have them quite dry. Good Seed To Increase Crops What good seed means to Canada was very clearly shown by a few fig- ures submitted by Mr. L. H. Newman. Secretary of the Canadian Seed Grow- ers' Association, at the Conference on Soil FertUity and Soil Fibre, held at Winnipeg by the Commission of Con- servation. Each spring Canada requires ap- proximately 6.5.000.000 bushels of seed grain and 9,000.000 bushels of seed potatoes, or about 8 per cent of her annual average production. About 41,000,000 acres are annually planted to these crops in Canada. An increase of but one bushel per acre of this area would add apprcximatelv $80,000,000 to the wealth of the couij- tr>-. One of the chief methods of in- creasing production is by the more general use of seed of better breeding and of varieties better suited to the districts where sown. Grow Your Own Feed SILOS AND SILAGE. leaa In most sections, this summer has been a most favorable one from the standpoint of milk production. Few indeed have been the com- plaints about drouth and pasture shortage. Dame Nature has been teaching a most valuable lesson. She has shown the value of keeping cows comfortable and providing them with an abun- dance of palatable, succulent, nutriti- ous food. The demonstration should suffice to prove to the man who milks cows that he can always secure favorable pro- duction if he sees to it that his cows are comfortable and that they daily receive all of the palatable, succulent, nutritious food they need for main- taining their bodies in good condition and manufacturing the maximum of milk and butterfat of which they have the inherent ability. It is not difficult or expensive to re- model most barns so that they will be comfortable, well lighted and well ventilated. By doing so comfort for cows during winter months is insured. It is even less difficult and expen- sive to provide an abundance of pala table, succulent, nutritious food. All that is needed is a silo full of good si- lage, an abundance of leguminous hay and concentrates that will form a well balanced ration. ! The wise cattle feeder wai grow I upon his own land the largest possible amount of food that he is to feed. He will grow as much of the nitrogenous feeds, the clover, peas. etc.. as pos- sible, but the corn plant or roots will be his mainstay for succulent winter food. Under favorable circumstances he may grow enough to carry his stock advantageously through the winter, but for the most part of the home- ' grown foods must be supplemented from the market. To do this most i economically the man who has suffl- 1 cient hay and silage for his animals I will usually need to lay special stress ' on the protein content of the feeding ' stuffs that he is to buy. i While protein is not the sole meas- ! ure of a food material, for his purpose he can consider it as such, for he goes to the market not to buy sugar and • starch but to obtain the nitrogenous ' materials needed to balance his ration. Hence he will have little use for low grade oat feeds, he will buy bran chiefly because it will furnish needed '• manurial matter, and he will buy more ! largely of the gluten, the oil meal, and ' other materials high in protein. Which . of these that he purchases will be largely determined by the market j price. Under ordinary conditions he will probably find cotton seed meal to be the cheapest source of digestible protein, particularly when its high ; manurial value it taken into account. '• ELIMINATING THE POOR COW. THE HOME MARKET. There is a thoughtless optimism in Canada to-day which disregards the probable effect upon agriculture, us upon other industries in Canada, of the rehabilitation of production abroad, and particularly in Europe. The situation and its significance are frankly stated in a recent editorial in The New York Journal of Commerce, which says: "The exporter of agricultural pro- ducts must, in common with other ex- porters, meet the problem of the in- ability of foreign nations to finance purchases of the production of our farms. Under the stimulus of the Government's efforts to increase home production the agricultural output of a number of the recently belligerent nations is rapidly returning to normal European agriculture generally is showing remarkable recovery, though there are some exceptions, such as some of the Balkan States and Russia It is thought that after the present harvest Europe, with the exceptions above mentioned, will be back almost to pre-war conditions as far as produc- tion of domestic foodstuffs is con cerned, .\ considerable amount of butter and potatoes have recently reached this country from Denmark: .Australian and New Zealand mutton have lately been imported into the I'nited States. The imports of Egyptian onions have reached prewar quantity. Large quantities of Ruman- ian wheat have been sold to Italy and other European states." The Journal of Commerce thinks, however, that until Russia again en- ters the world markets with her grain, it is probable that this continent will be able to And profitable sale abroad for its entire exportable surplus of breadstuffs: and that good markets for dairy products and meats will con tinue In Europe for some time. Canadian agriculturists will do well to consider what these developments mean. Every country In the world is strlTtnK to Increase Its farm produc- tion and to decrease Its dependence upon outside sources of supply. Com- petition for markets abroad l,>» certain to become increasingly keen, despite the perennial warnings of. disciples of Malthua. Farslghted agriculturists In A HOME STUNT WITH WHEEL HOE. Some time ago I considered the lost motions involved in going over my acre of garden with an ordinary wheel hoe. It was usually necessary to travel over the ground once with hoe blades attached to cut off weeds at the sur- face of the soil, then to change the blades for cultivator teetn and re- travel over the territory to make the ground mellow. Why didn't the manufacturers pro- vide for a simultaneous attachment of hoe blades and cultivator teeth, so that the two jobs could be done at once? Well, they didn't, and I decid- ed to amend the deficiency with home resources. It required only two car- riage bolts about two and a half inches long, and a piece of common inch board â€" yellow pine which I shaped to fit the wheel hoe. The two bolts were placed tandem about two inches apart, going 'hrough th" front end of the board and fasten ing it to the iron frame. For attach- ing the cultivator teeth it was neces- sary on'.y to bore thre>? snu.; lioUs in the back end of th' board I'd to us" the nut-and-holt fastening regularlv provided for the teeth. .\ coat of lin seed oil guaranteed the board asa'-iv' warping. I have used this corabinatioa dtvice tor two seasons with entire success. It saves halt the time in weed killing and cultivating. It is especially useful in the ear!* part of the season, when young weeds are sprouting fast and the surface crust must be kept broken It takes a little more effort to push the machine, but any able-bodied person can man age It. On first-class garden soil, with- out much clay or stones, you can push it about as fast as you can walk Few farmers have such .i thing i" ,n «\tfnslon ladder, and ya that is the beet kind of a ladder any one can lave A man who is handv i»l\h tool-; can mtVe one of his own. Canada will appreciate to an Increas- ing extent that the home market is the beat market and that their Interests wlU best be served by the develop^ ment. along with agriculture, of stroax and efldclent manufacturing in dost lies. SOME GOOD ADVICE. Buy all the good females you can pay cash for. Use a bull that is worth as much as half the females he serves in a sea- son. You can afford to use your credit some on him if necessary. i Care for them each and all as one usually cares for a top notch, new au- tomobile or any other pet trea-'ur?'. Raise w'nat you feed. I Feed what you r.4l«e ' Ue loyal to the breed. ; Help your neighbors to make jouri ct.mmunity a leading one. j UTumber th \t the I.or 1 not oniy I It â-  fs s good loser but a modest win- rcr. â€" Jborthorn World. I The object of cow testing is to give the dairyman accurate knowledge as to the production of milk and fat of each cow in the herd. It is readily admitted that the average cow does not produce as much milk as she is capable of giving, and many dairymen keep one or more cows that do not even pay for their keep. Cow testing shows which cows are worth keeping i in the herd and gives evidence against I those that should be eliminated from the herd. "The progress of cow test- â- â-  ing," bulletin .58, Dairy and Cold Stor- ' age Series by A. H. White. B.S.A.. shows that many farmers rely on guess work to pick out their best cows from which to save heifer calves for the future herds. Frequently, these suesses are not correct, cows which i have good conformation are not al- 1 ways the best producers in the herd. ' Dair>- Records will do away with guess work, and the farmer can safely se- ' lect his best cows for breeding pur- poses. The bulletin. "The Progress of Cow Testing." may he secured free i upon application to the Publications ; Branch. Department of Agriculture. ; Ottawa. In addition to giving the es- sential objects of cow testing it out- 1 lines the details of organization and I gives some of the results obtained. ' which shows that many farmers have ; increased the production of their herds from 30 to 75 per cent and some have doubled the herd average in a few- years. Wherever cow testing has been followed for a few years a decided in- crease in the average production of each cow will be found. j CROP ROTATION. Dr. Crisdale Emphaaizes the Necessary Factor of Per- manency in Prosperous Agriculture. "The maintaining of the farm Ib a condition free from weeds and keep- ing the moiature-holding power of the land as high as possible are factors tliat are of prime importance. A eriip rotation, therefore, that la satisfactory Oiakes preparations both by gecttag the soil la right shape and by cultural methods to hold that moistore aj well as it possibly can be held, by storing all the moisture that comes along. "Another advantage in crop rotation is the conservation of the tdrtllity and the maintenance. If not the in- creasing, of the fibre content of the soil. •Nearly all tanners are following ro- tations. They get into the habit of following some kind of a system, and If you are handling some land year after year you are bound to have some kind of a scheme worked otit Unfor- tunately we have too many farmers ] with a bad scheme â€" a bad rotation. I What we want to get introduced on I every farm is a good roution. and what I is a good rotation on one farm is not necessarily the best rotation on an- other That we appreciate this is shown by the fact that we have on trial on our experimental farms some twenty-odd rotations in the West. I "I think the most important step in I progression to be made on these prair- ! les is the introduction of a better rota- I tion. We have a rotation now. but ic ' is a bad one. What we waat to do is ! to change it and put a better one in. and that is what we are trying to reach at this Conservation meeting. If we could get that change â€" if we could get the farmers of this country think- ing along that line, the changing from that three-year rotation in the West or four-year in the eastern part of these prairies, including a stimmer-fallow in each case, and considering all the pos- sibility of our hoed or cultivated crop, we shall have done more for agricul- ture In these provinces than any other convention or meeting of men has ever done in tt(^ history of the Prair- ies."â€" From address of Dr. J. H. Gris- dale. at Conference on Soil Fertility of the Commission of Conservation at Winnipeg. FOR PEACH TREE BORERS. Alfalfa hay is a splendid horse feed but must be fed with judgment and care. It is not always true to say that there is no "best breed" of sheep or swine or of any other class of live stock. There is a best breed for every man. and that breed Is the one that he likes best and with which he is most likely to succeed. Peach borers may be controlled only by cutting them out of their buri^ws in June and again in the faU. Repel- lent washes, mechanical barriers and poison sprays have not been effective in controlling the pest. Two species attack the peach tree. The lesser borers are usually found in the diseased and wounded areas of the upper part of the trunk where they feed on the grow^ing bark The com- mon borers confine their attacks to the base of the tree. Both species may be cut out at the same time, but the wounds made by the worming should be painted with lime-sulphur solution. Bordeaux mix- ture of white lead, to prevent diseases from entering the wounds. Tc get a good crop rotation started | is usurllv not a simple prollem. nor trtn it usually be accompli -bed in a ; year. No matter what class of ewe you j keep, use only pure-bred rams. : .\ horse trader usually looks for the : blemishes in the other horse that exist ! in hi-: owi: Apparatus has been invented that records the speed made by a loco- motive at each point in a run. where it stops and how long and where it is reversed. A species of spider In Ceylon spins webs five feet in diameter and with supponing lines ten or more feet long, strong enough to trap birds for fcod. IT IS ADVERTISING Tiiat brings you cleaner food : That improves your personal appear- ance : That eases vour daily task : That takes the humdrum out of hfe : That tells you when, where and how to find things pleasurable and profit- able. Read the advertisements in the daily newspapers regularly. They are as important as political affairs. They concern you as closely as the weather. «,' «.â- ' They can play a great part in domes- tic economy.