ENGINEERING AND THE FARMER

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25300, 27 September 1947, Page 6

ENGINEERING AND THE FARMER

PROBLEMS IN N.Z. EXPERIMENTAL WORK DONE . BY COLLEGES “So far in New Zealand the engineer has done extraordinarily little to help the farmer,” states a recent article in “New Zealand Engineering.” “In a country which depends on its primary produce, the development of laboursaving machines has been left largely to our two agricultural colleges, to the Department of Agriculture to a minor extent, and to the rare manufacturer of farm equipment. Similarly. while the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council has already done some convincing work, the fact that it is still in its teething stages indicates a belated recognition of the need for a central body to carry out this work, “Almost every branch of engineering, from mechanical to structural, is affected,” the article continues. “Import restrictions, the dollar position, and the creation of other markets by the war are bound to affect the quantity of agricultural machinery brought into New Zealand at a time when we want to export more and more foodstuffs and raw materials. “At the two agricultural colleges of the University o. New Zealand, Massey at Palmerston North and Canterbury Agricultural College at Lincoln, the testing and fabrication of new developments in farm machinery are being carried on with the help of grsnts from the Department of Scientific and industrial Research.

Special Local Needs •‘To cater for special local needs,” the articles continues, "a machine for harvesting light crops of grass seed has been designed at Lincoln College. Grass seed is normally harvested with the header harvester, but this is usually only economical for seed growing on good land giving high enough yield to make the process profitable. The idea for a machine to harvest light crops of grass seed originated with a Christchurch inventor some years ago, but owing to lack of facili- i ties for construction of working models and testing he was unable to put the idea into practice successfully. The project was then taken over by the agricultural engineering department of the college, and a successful truckmounted grass seed stripper has been developed, making it now an economical proposition to harvest these very thin crops of seed. “The experimental model consists essentially of an angle iron framework, covered with canvas, flexibly mounted on a light truck. In front is a wire mesh stripper screen with a collecting tray immediately behind it. Then follow another wire mesh screen and tray. Some seed is stripped off by the first wire screen, passes through the screen and into the trays. As the grass heads rebound, they are again stripped by the second screen. The Curvature and placing of the stripper screens has to be varied with different grasses. “The main features of the machine are speed, flexibility, and cheapness. Whereas the header travels about three miles an hour, the stripper travels at 15 miles an hour. At this comparatively high rate of working, grass seed that would have been otherwise wasted can now be harvested economically. Two experimental machines ‘were working in the last harvest, with very satisfactory results. To take advantage of the seed being fit for harvesting for only a short, period before it is shed, the machines will need to be in the hands of the individual farmer. As it is a s’mplemachine, cheap and easy to construct, it should be within the means of any farmer wisihng to own one.

Collecting Stonex •‘A machine for removing loose stones from the surface of grass fields has also been developed by the engineering department of the college. Towed behind a tractor, it has a deflector in front to bring the stones into t-he width of the beater, a chain being hung across the draw chains ahead of the deflector, dragging along the ground to set the stones rolling. The beater, Consisting of two wheels on an axle, with old tyres stretched between the spokes, throws the stones up a flexible tamp of tines made of old car springs into a tray. The tray, mounted on skids, can be tipped by a hand winch to dump the stones. Behind the machine trails a deflector to deflect any stones missed to one side, where they will be picked up the next time round. “The machine travels about 10 miles an hour, and does clear practically all stones from the surface of a paddock. It is at present purely experimental, end would need to oe re.designed, with rubber tyers and a geared drive to the beater, before it could go into commercial production. It has also as yet been tested only on flat ground, and the economics of its Operation have not yet been investigated.”

THIS YEAR’S SHOW

The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s show this year, which will be held on November 13 and 14, will be a South Island championship show, and entries already received from outside the province indicate that this new departure has been well received by breeders throughout the South Island. The idea of a championship show, to be held in years in which the Royal is not held in the South Island, did not come from Canterbury, but the other associations were unanimous in asking Canterbury to conduct the fixture. The association and.the breed societies have been most liberal with prize money this year. One of the most useful Concessions made by the Canterbury AssoCiatioh is in the payment of rail charges on all show stock from outside Canterbury up to the point at which the stock enters Canterbury. Interesting additions to the sheep sections are classes for Suftolks and for South-down-Suffolk cross rams, which have had a great demand at the sales in recent years. Throughout the schedule, liberal prize money is offered, and the association has kept to the principle of spreading the cash awards rather than' concentrating them entirely on one or two champion entries. Accomodation for visitors’ cars has been very considerably increased this year. For manv years now the ground has been badly congested by the cars of the increasing number of people who come to the show. The new arrangement with the Railway Department and the trotting authorities has made available over seven acres of parking space. A new road into the ground from Matino street should relieve ennsiderably the congestion at the gates.

Quick Freeze Meat.—The Australian Meat Board is seeking technical advice on the possibilities of sending “quick-freeze” joints and cuts of meat for direct delivery to London shops. Under this system the meat would be cut and prepared in Australia—so eliminating a certain amount of waste which would otherwise have to be shipped.