472 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [July 2, 1920. 



Cheap Petrol gives American Farmers an 



Advantage. 



The American farmer has a big ad\dntage over the Australian farmer, be- 

 cause good road construction is a live and popular idea throughout the 

 country, the result being that with good roads as the general rule, the motor 

 truck and the motor car (with trailer) are very much in evidence. In many 

 parts, motor truck service companies operate successfully, even in competition 

 with the railways. Generally speaking, the United States are a network of 

 railwa_ys, and capital is quickly available to open up new territory prior to 

 settlement taking place, the builders of these railways relying upon future 

 freightage, or on concessions in the shape of land grants to recoup them for 

 their expenditure. It is obvious that, with such transport facilities, the 

 American farmer is particularly well placed for getting his produce to 

 market, or for the removal of his stock when this is necessary. The first 

 cost to him of motor trucks and cars, and the low cost of petrol (averaging, 

 between States from the Pacific to the Atlantic, about Is. per gallon, as 

 compai'ed with about four times that amount in Australia) together make the 

 lot of the American farmer very much better than that of our own farmers, and 

 incidentally assist increased production to a large extent. Good roads, plus 

 cheap petrol, bring the cost of upkeep of a truck or car down to a minimum 

 in America. 



Realising that the cost of petrol has a vital bearing upon ti'ansportation 

 here, I called, during my visit to San Francisco, upon the Union Oil Com- 

 pany (one of the largest oil companies in the States). I discussed with the 

 Assistant to the Vice-president (Mr. T. A. Hays) the possibility of securing 

 petrol for Australia at a substantially lower cost. He expressed the opinion 

 that the only way in which Australia could obtain petrol materially cheaper 

 was by finding its own oil wells. He was further of opinion that an ex- 

 pert oil geologist — the very best procurable — should be bi'ought to Australia, 

 and given full facilities for finding oil, and that, later, an experienced oil 

 driller — not a water driller — should also be procured ; and said he would be 

 glad, if the New South Wales Government desired it, to lend a first-class 

 geologist from his own Company. — Extract from a report by Mr. Leslie 

 G. Bridge. 



Cooked versus Raw Potatoes as Pig Eatteners. 



Experiments were recently carried out by the Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland to determine the comparative values 

 of cooked and of raw potatoes for fattening pigs. 



The experiments were carried out at five centres in five counties, and at 

 each centre the pigs were divided into two lots, as even as possible as regards 

 sex, age, weight, and general appearance. The pigs in Lot 1 were given 

 cooked potatoes, and those in Lot 2 raw pulped potatoes, but in all other 

 respects the lots were treated alike. Summarised results show that the pigs 

 to which cooked potatoes were fed made an average daily gain of r431b., 

 while the animals on raw potatoes gained only r291b. In 110 days the 

 former made an increased gain in live weight of almost 161b. per head more 

 than the latter. The results indicated that, with pork at £'i 8s. 9d. per cwt. 

 live weight, a substantial profit was obtained from the cooking of potatoes 

 for fattening pigs. 



