ENGINEERING IN AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3898, 27 November 1928, Page 12

ENGINEERING IN AGRICULTURE.

We have on more than one occasion discussed phases of agriculture which pertain particularly to the scientific fertilising af farm lands, modern tillage operations, and the consumption by stock of fodder and grass crops when they are most nutritious. The conditions which govern agriculture to-day necessitate close scrutiny of the costs incurred in the production of foodstuffs, seeing that it is competing with other industries in the labour market. Labour-saving devices have revolutionised industrial undertakings, and, owing to the generous use of mechanical power, have made great advancement in -recent years. Agriculture, on the contrary, has plodded along for centuries with but little change in method. A new era has dawned, and labour-saving devices have given farming a new impetus. Engineering methods and equipment centring about mech..anical power are now evoking attention in agricultural production. The implement section at a metropolitan agricultural and pastoral show commands as much, if not more, attention than many of the sections devoted to stock. Agriculture is, in fact, becoming industrialised. Those engaged in agriculture apparently must learn to think in terms of industry along production lines—to measure production in terms of output per worker, and- not in terms of output per acre —in output per pound sterling invested rather than in terms of value per acre.

Mechanical farm equipment has two very decided influences on agricultural labour. The primary function of machinery is to lighten and improve upon laborious manual effort. We thus not only multiply the output of the worker, but influence the character of his work. Labour becomes largely a matter of the intellect directing the power used in performing the desired operations, instead of muscular effort. This difference can be illustrated by the contrast between the preparation of a seed bed through spading by manual labour and ploughing by a team or a tractor. We are dependent on agriculture for opr food supplies, and therefore all measures successfully designed to lower the price of farm products mean a general fall in the cost of living for all classes of the population. If by using mechanical devices on the farm we can materially cut the cost of production and increase the margin between cost and gross receipts, both farmers and consumers should be pleased. “ Agricultural engineering is the Nemesis of waste, and the enemy of inefficiency,” w’rites Dudley T. Angus in an article entitled “ Influence of Engineering,” “ all the way from the subjugation of the virgin soil to the delivery of the final product. It is at once tlie balance wheel and the ballbearings of farming. It is applied science, applied economics, and applied common sense.”

It is held by the writer we have quoted that engineering and the engineer can and will do for agriculture what has already been achieved for other industries. The problem is not essentially different. Therefore, agriculture must he developed, equipped, managed, operated, and financed like any successful industry before ■it can “ come into its own.” In order to generally assist the agricultural industry along the foregoing lines, there is in America a society named the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, of which many members are leading engineers in the different branches of agricultural machinery and research. During various visits to the United States Mr Angus spent considerable time with officers of the Department of Agriculture interested in farm machinery;.—He has satisfied himself that the American Society of Agricultural Engineers has been instrumental in promoting more efficient methods of farming in certain areas, with the result that farmers’ profits have increased, and life on the modern farm has been much improved. An attempt is being made to form an Australian branch of the organisation mentioned, in order to further the interests of agriculture in the Commonwealth. In this connection there is a promising field at the moment in New Zealand for our agricultural engineers. The farming of arable acres

possesses a new interest when we realise that it is possible for one man to plant and harvest potatoes, reap and stook a cereal crop, etc., by aid of machines, or harrow and fertilise pastures by means of mechanical power. It is conceivable that the tillage implements on a modern farm and their handling will go a long way to .counteract the lure of the city, more particularly if the young farmer has sdme knowledge of modern methods of tillage and the use of the various artificial manures, and the breeding of stock and their feeding.