IT PUSHES OUT THE BUSHES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 138, 6 August 1941, Page 3

IT PUSHES OUT THE BUSHES

t. NOVEL INVENTION I ORIGINATOR OF N.Z. MILKING SYSTEM The man who originated open-air milking on the bail system, which mami New r Zealand farmers employ to-day, has now made a useful contribution to Britain's l'ood-growing campaign. It is a device to "push" bushes out of the ground. Hinged to the front axle tractor, the appliance has two channels which are carried on skid' - to prevent them sticking in tno ground. On the front is a pair i.f "scissors" kept open bv a strong spring from the channels. When the "scissors" come into contact with a bush, they closc and hokl it tightly. Then, as the tractor moves forward, it pushes the bush out of the ground, and vvhen the tractor is put in reverse the "scissors" open and leave the bush on the ground, to be collected by a specially designed sweep. The ."buslKjPUsher" is the invention of Mr Arthur Hosier, famous for his novel agricultural appliances. His open-air milking on the bail system has rejuvenated many thousands of acres of pasture on Britain's fchr-lk uplands and it is in use in Australia and the United States, as well as in New Zealand. On this bail system cows are milked by machinery and fed with concentrates in a portable contrivance which can be drawn on to the farm's poorest land. The cows tread and manure it themselves and much labour is saved in cleaning out cowsheds. From snxty to seventy cows can be milked by a man and a boy. Mr Hosier has recently brought out a new potato planter for attachment to a 3-furrow plough. With this the potatoes are dropped behind the front furrow and the land Ss afterwards harrowed once or twirv and earthed up in the usual way. ■The attendant, sitting on the plough, places the potatoes on a travelling belt, compartments in which regulate the planting distance.