a ‘fan, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 231 
" COST OF OLIVE OIL. 
B Mildura (Victoria) Cultivator says :— 
Intent oS" Of producing olive oil on a 20-acre plantation is as follows :— 
‘ ey on cost of machinery, &c., at 6 per cent., £15; picking, say, 25 tons 
) ta piet 112 Ib., and carting, £75; labour of man and boy in oil-room, £15 ; 
int ene and digging, £20; incidental expenses, bags, &c., £7—total, £182 ; 
whieh tt £140, Twenty-five tons of olives will produce 875 gallons of oil, 
Sbroe ‘8. per gallon gives £306 5s. From this deduct £140 expenses ; and 
ang ls left of £166 5s., or £8 6s. 3d. per acre from a yield of between 43 
44 vallong per acre. 
1 prof hus the cost of making a gallon of oil is about 3s. 2d.; and, therefore, the 
Per gallon is 3s. 10d. net if the oil be sold at 7s. per gallon. 
i SEED POTATO-CUTTER. 
ae a honbanying sketch and description of a labour-saving appliance we take 
ia Nore + © American Agriculturist :—The preparation of no farm seed causes 
=! | Ieq. tuble than that of the potato crop. It is a slow tedious task, and must 
one by hand. This is usually done by placing the potato upon a board and 
=| Use of it in the size desired. Now this task may be greatly alleviated by the 
j ‘device that I have already used. It is not new, neither is it my own 
Uvent 
hes ot At is simplicity itself, consisting only of a plank (a), 10 or 12 
tig te Width and 2 feet in length, and a knife (¥) driven in one end equally 
Qi, ‘its ‘Aarscither side. ‘This is placed upon a box or stool, and the operator 
i / Dtatogs ® it. At his right is placed a basket (c) containing the whole 
thn, 7 *2d in front, just under the knife, is another basket (d) to receive 
| %a 4 neut, The potatoes are cut by being pressed against the knife, one 
Bey, the At first the person cutting them need exercise a little care to 
| nd he 18 fingers being cut, but with a little practice there will be no danger, 
“| him gs S22 Cut an amount of potatoes in an hour that would be impossible for 
“Ut in twice that time in the old way. 
FARMING A PRECIPICE. 
5/6 4 SG : 
oy | that aiese are an industrious people, and nothing is allowed to go to waste 
st Blobe, Possibly be utilised. As the Empire of China is the largest on the 
gd | “tong Nd contains nearly half of the entire human race, the necessity for 
4 fonds, i 'S very apparent. ‘!hey not only cultivate the land, but all the lakes, 
| 1 '8ely gad Marshes are gardens in which aquatic plants, suitable for food, are 
| oof meee. Among these the water chestnut is pre-eminent, and is said to 
nny Yery palatable and wholesome nature. In a narrative of Lord 
a | "in “Y8 Embassy to China it is related that his lordship’s attendants in 
| eine Ough a part of that Empire saw a man cultivating the side of a 
Nise 8nd, on examination, they found he had a rope fastened around his 
ich was secured at the top of the mountain, and by which he let himself 
