Crane Towers Over Variety Of Displays

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30288, 14 November 1963, Page 22

Crane Towers Over Variety Of Displays

Rivalling the ferris wheel for dominance over the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s show grounds this year is a 145 ft high crane supporting a 55ft concrete bridge beam weighing eight tons and a half. It is the tallest in a machinery display spread over 250,000 sq. ft. All the biggest tractors have in the past had the greatest numbers of small boys swarming over them but this year the tiny “cub” tractor will steal the show. It is only 7j h.p., compared with about 35 h.p. for the average farm tractor and 160 h.p. for the giant tracked machine. A few of the little machines—they are only about 3ft high—were brought here from the United States in the last two months, and one has been bought by the Dunedin City Council’s parksand reserves department for pulling a mower. At the show they are towing carts full of children. Rock Drills

One of the most interesting machines in the implement section is one used to drill 4|in holes through solid rock to depths up to 250 ft, according to the type of rock. Costing £7500 each, they are used mainly in quarries for placing charges, but three are now in use on the Manapouri tail-race project. They are called percussionrotation rock drills, and use bits made of tungsten carbide. Side-show alley is very big this year, and by early afternoon everything was ready for the big rush, from the “dodge ’em” cars lined up in neat rows on their metal floor, to the newlypainted signs advertising the man who had made “a complete sex change.” Visitors from Templeton Farm took advantage of the quiet opening day to see all the exhibits, and crocodiles of little children from sev-

eral institutions wove in and out of the exhibition tents.

In Canterbury Court they saw judges testing and sniffing rich fruit cakes, sponges, home-made bread, preserves, bulging cheeses, factory butter, and lace-iced wedding cakes. A seed-cleaning machine was getting the finishing touches in one comer, and in another a row of gleaming trophies was surrounded by racks of fine fleeces. Prospective farmers will be interested in the Department of Agriculture’s geographical map of central Canterbury between the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers which shows the main land classes. It shows the areas of good land and poor land, with real cross-sectional samples of soil and turf of the main types. Alpine gardeners will see a good selection of plants in the Canterbury Horticultural Society’s tent. There is also an exhibition of herb plants, with thyme, sage, rue, balm, and majoram among them. Overseas Sales Some of the latest posters used to promote sales of New Zealand lamb overseas are displayed in the New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s building. They are colourful Meat Producers’ Board posters showing mouth-watering plates of golden-brown roasts, and even one showing two Japanese wrestlers being served New Zealand lamb from a steaming pan. It is worth a walk to the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company's tent, too, to see the 3ft high block of ice containing a frozen bouquet of rhododendrons, lilacs, and azaleas.

Lincoln College helps farmers with a display in its tent called “Bossmanship”— advice on hiring and getting the best out of employees. In the poultry tent, black, white, brown and speckled roosters spent all day crowing at each other and at a few unresponsive ducks.