THE FARM HOLDING. 



lo<) 



can tell by the nature of the subsoil whether 01 not it will be 'good 

 holding," but if there is any doubl a tesl should be made by partly filling 

 tlic shaft with water, so that its holding capacity can he ascertained. 



Capacity. 



If then' is much of a fall in the land the tanks should be made long and 

 narrow across the fall, [f the length were made parallel with the fall the 

 water would reach the surface at the lower end while it was still very low at 

 the upper end. and consequently much of the storage capacity would be lost. 



It is very important that the tank should be of ample capacity, so that 

 the water will last through long periods of drought. In estimating the 

 probable requirements, allowance must he made not only for the watering of 

 stock, but for the loss by evaporation. From a water surface at ground 

 level the evaporation in the western districts is equal to about 80 inches per 

 annum. From the tank the loss would not be quite as great, for the water 

 being below the surface, is protected in some measure by the banks, but if 

 no water were to find its way into a tank for a year evaporation alone 

 would be responsible for the reduction of its depth by 5 to 6 feet. This 

 indicates that in excavation as great a depth as possible should be obtained ; 

 the best tanks in the western district are from 14 to 1"> feel deep. 



The Scoop. 



In the actual work of making the excavation a good deal obviously 

 depends on the implements used and the manner in which they are handled. 

 It will be noticed that on the bottom of the scoop are two rods of iron called 

 cradles. These after some use wear very thin, and should be removed 

 and replaced (Fig. 2.). If this is not done the whole of the bottom of the scoop 

 conies into contact with the ground, causing much more friction, and 

 requiring considerably more exertion on the part of the horses. In the 

 illustration the handle of the scoop is, as usual, straight, but some men 



Fig. !■ — Type of small scoop generally used. 

 Note.— The ?coop figured serves to illustrate the points referred to in the text, but more modern ti , 

 scoops, with much larger capacity and suitable for teams of two to four horse-, are on t tic market. 



prefer to have the, handles ben ( upwards, arguing that less strength is then 

 required to fill and turn the scoop. When scoops are new they arc always 

 bevelled at the mouth, as in Fig. 3 (a) which makes them hard to raise to 

 the surface when full, and likely to "bite" as well as giving them a 

 tendency to work downwards. When bevelled as in Fig. 3 (b) much less 

 pressure on the handles sends them up, and they glide over the top of the 

 loose earth without any trouble. When used for a considerable time the 



