WORK ON THE LAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26747, 16 April 1948, Page 6

WORK ON THE LAND

SHORTAGE OF LABOUR OVERCOME USE OF MACHINERY To overcome the shortage of seasonal labour for farm work, improved types of agricultural machinery are constantly being produced. It is estimated that in Otago and Southland the number of header harvesters in operation has more than doubled during the past two years, in spite of the fact that in many parts of the two provinces climatic conditions are not altogether suitable. Rapid progress has also been made in the past few years with the development of potato digging machines. Growers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure the labour required for this monotonous and heavy work and, consequently, it can be expected that any new machine which can economically dig, grade, and bag the larger crops will be keenly sought. An Improved Digger A Daily Times representative visted the Kaitangata district this week, and saw in operation an improved type of digger which was recently completed in a Balclutha factory. It incorporates several improvements suggested by the owners, Messrs Miller Bros. The elevator, up which the potatoes travel to the grading screens, is erected at a much more, acute angle than is the case with earlier diggers of the same type, but a conveyor belt with blades assists the potatoes on their journey. At the same time, the new device eliminates a great deal of the debris, such as shaws, weeds, and clods, which in some machines tend to clog the elevator. In addition to the tractor driver, a team of six men were operating the new harvester as it moved around the field. One man kept the potatoes moving after they left the elevator, another picked out the few weeds and shaws which came up, and the remaining four bagged the table and seed potatoes as they left the respective grading screens. At regular intervals the machine stopped to dump the full bags, which were quickly sewn and stacked.

Greater Capabilities

When one or two adjustments have been made, the owners of the improved potato harvesting machine are of the, opinion that, in good conditions, 360 bags of the Aran Chief variety will be handled in an eight-hour day. Comparisons are difficult to make, because of the varying soils and the weather, but it was stated by two farmers with long experience that an average day’s work' for one man, picking up potatoes from the ground, would be 30 bags. Equally as important as the extra speed of the new machine, however, is the elimination of the monotony and continual bending and lifting. Potato picking on a large scale may soon be a thing of the past, if the latest harvester can be successfully and economically developed.