2000 See Potato Machines

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 22

2000 See Potato Machines

About 2000 potato growers from Auckland to Invercargill watched two potato harvesters from the United Kingdom, one from Australia and three locally-made machines handling potatoes in bulk at Lincoln College yesterday. The growers attended a machinery demonstration organised by the potato industry and sponsored by the Potato Board. A party of 50 came from Rangitiked and Manawatu, and smaller groups came from Pukekohe, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay. The secretary of the organising committee, Mr M. P. H. Rousham, said that a machine of Norwegian design had arrived in Timaru but there had not been time to prepare it. The emphasis was on mechanisation. Some of the machines harvested into wooden bins fitted behind; others unloaded into a tractor-drawn trailer bin or into a bulk bin on a lorry, and these potatoes were tipped directly or elevated into a pit of bales of straw. Farmers swarmed round the machines and they had to be asked to stop clambering on them while they worked. The considerable rain of the last week made conditions which prevailed a severe test for the machines. The chairman of the

Potato Board (Mr 1. A. Baxter), said that growing of potatoes had come a long way since the 1920 s when more than 55 per cent of the crop was sown with the aid of the plough. Now there were two-row planters and diggers and harvesters. The principal of Lincoln College (Dr M. M. Burns), said that the interest that versatile, adaptable New Zealanders were taking in the development of machinery for this job was gratifying. On samples taken during an assessment trial of the harvesting machines on Wednesday, provisional details were given of the labour required to man the machines, their speed of working, efficiency in collecting all the potatoes in the ground and the amount of dirt that they collected in relation to potatoes harvested. Mr G. de Joux, a port grader, of Timaru, surveyed a sample of the potatoes for bruising but he said that it was hard to find bruising only a few hours after potatoes had been harvested. Samples of the crop taken by each machine will be stored for two months to see whether any damage or bruising develops over a normal storage period. Mr de Joux said that of the samples he looked at one showed that 20 per cent of the potatoes were bruised and four showed no bruising. In one case there was slight skinning. Other types of potato growing equipment, including planters, diggers and haulm pulverisers were shown in static displays. Mr Rousham drew the attention of visitors to containers for use in the rapid transfer of potatoes to the

North Island in 251 b and 561 b bags and also in sacks. A paper manufacturing company showed the modern type of paper bag used in packaging potatoes.

In the accompanying photograph an Australianmade harvester with trac-tor-drawn trailer bin is seen working at the field day.