90 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, {1 Fes., 1898. 
Acriculture. 
TO KEEP SWEET POTATOES. 
THERE are seasons occasionally when sweet potatoes are so plentiful that sales 
are difficult to effect, and prices are correspondingly low. It is then that the 
advantage of storing the tubers for a better market comes into play. We have 
often heard men say that it is no use storing sweet potatoes; if they do not 
rot, they shrivelup and become tough. We have kept them perfectly fresh by 
storing them in a cool place in sand. There are two important matters to 
observe in putting them away. First, they must be allowed to become 
thoroughly ripe before digging; and, secondly, when stored the tubers must not 
touch each other, and air must be excluded as much as possible. How are we 
to know when a sweet potato is ripe? Everyone who has grown the crop 
knows that a milky juice exudes from a broken potato. Break one, and notice 
if the juice when dry is of a dark colour. If so, the potato is not ripe, and 
it will be labour thrown away to store them. But should the juice on being 
dried remain white, the tubers are ready to be taken up. But they are not yet 
ready to be stored away, any more than apples are ready to be packed in cases 
or barrels the moment they are gathered. The latter fruit wants airing by 
exposure; so do sweet potatoes. They should be spread out either in the field 
or in the barn for several days, exposed to the action of the air. This is, in 
fact, a kind of curing process. In storing them the proper method is to lay 
down a thick layer of sand, on which the first layer of tubers is placed. ‘Then 
pour sand over them till they are completely covered and all the crevices filled. 
Next put down another layer of tubers, which will lie on the second sand bod. 
Pour in sand again, and so on till all are put away. The sand having excluded 
the air, the potatoes are safe, and will keep in ordinary weather right through 
the winter. Very hot weather is, however, very injurious to them, and there- 
fore the place of storage should be as cool as possible. The main points are, 
as we said before, perfect ripeness and sufficient aération or curing, 
WHEAT-GROWING BY IRRIGATION AT BARCALDINE, 
Mr. W. H. Camprenn supplies the following interesting particulars of 
experiments made by him in wheat-growing by irrigation with artesian water 
at Jacindol. ‘These experiments go to show the excellent results which may 
be obtained in dry country by this means. He says :—The first experimental 
plot of wheat at Barcaldine was sown by Professor Shelton in July, 1895. The 
site chosen was two acres of the chocolate soil on the plain country. This was 
fenced in and planted with thirty-two different varieties of wheat under Mr. 
Shelton’s supervision. The seed germinated, but no rain fell during the 
months of August and September, and the plants withered up and died. On 
the same spot I sowed two acres of Allora Spring Wheat in June, 1896. ‘This 
germinated, but, owing to protracted dry winter and spring, it did not flourish, 
and ultimately it was destroyed just after coming into ear by marsupials and 
parrots. The same year I prepared an acre of ground adjacent to the bore 
stream, close to the homestead on Jacindol Grazing Farm, and this was sown 
with the remainder of the seed supplied by the Department of Agriculture, 
