1 Srpr., 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 355 
ANALYSIS OF THE SWEET POTATO. 
The analysis of the sweet potato (according to. Dalgety’s Review) is as 
follows :—100 lb. sweet potato contains 69°32 to 73:11 Ib. water, 1:09 to 1:29 Ib. 
ash, 1°38 to 2°47 protein or flesh-forming material, 0°86 to 1:23 lb. fibre, 29°73 
to 28:46 Ib. nitrogen free extract (starch, sugar, gum, &c.), and 0°43 to 0°85 Ib. 
fat; a total of 27°46 lb. to 32°49 lb. dry matter. It thus contains more dry 
matter and more starchy and sugary food, but less nitrogenous material than 
the ordinary potato. As a comparison it may be stated that 100 lb. maize 
contains 89:1 dry matter, 10°5 protein, and 75 Ib. nitrogen free extract, while 
300 lb. sweet potatoes contain 86:7 dry matter, 4°5 lb. protein, and. 75:3 |b. 
nitrogen free extract. 
GROWING RADISHES BY ELECTRICITY. 
It is no new idea that vegetables come to maturity sooner by the application 
of electricity than if left to their natural course. 
A farmer in New Jersey has for some time been making use of the electric 
current from the wires of a trolly company to force his vegetables. It was 
discovered that the ingenious gardener had tapped one of the main feeders and 
utilised the current to stimulate the growth of certain crops on his farm. A. 
perfect network of wire was discovered under a vegetable bed, 300 feet long by 
200 feet wide, in which radishes were grown. ‘These radishes are claimed to 
have matured in nineteen days, whereas radishes grown under ordinary 
circumstances required six weeks before reaching maturity. 
NAILS IN PEACH TREES. 
Many years ago, we were advised to drive copper nails into our orange 
trees as a preventive against the borer. We cannot to-day recall the result, 
but the idea was certainly based on a good supposition, which was that the 
copper imparted to the wood and sap a flavour distasteful to the borer. A. 
correspondent of the Florida Times, Union, and Citizen says on this subject :— 
Borers are the worst enemy of the peach tree in Florida. I will tell your 
readers a sure way to keep them out. Clear away the dirt around the tree and 
take and drive a nail into the tree, end level with the ground, clear in full 
length. If it is small, use a lath nail; if larger, use a longer nail. You will 
never have any borers in that tree. I have tried it in my seedling peach trees— 
T never could make these new-fangled budded trees do well around my place. 
POISONING CROWS. 
In the Corowa district, New South Wales, the crows which are usually 
troublesome at lambing time have been destroyed successfully by means of the 
following poison:—Take 6 lb. of fat, melt it; place half a stick of phosphorus 
in a pickle bottle, and pour boiling water on it. Let the fat cool to the 
consistency of treacle or the point prior to settling; then pour the liquidised 
phosphorus into it, and stir well till it sets. Spread the poisonous fat on green 
sheepskins, also over dead sheep or lambs on the place the crows are known to 
feast. Great care should be taken that not more than half-a-stick of phosphorus 
is used to 6 lb. of fat, and that the lot is well stirred till cool, else {the 
phosphorus will consolidate and ignite the lot. : 
KICKING COWS. 
Most dairy farmers have experienced trouble with 
kicking cows. Here is a device worth trying, which is 
taken from The Homestead. The illustration requires 
no explanation. 
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