FERTILISER WASTAGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 816, 9 November 1929, Page 29

FERTILISER WASTAGE

TREATMENT OF EMPTY BAGS Importance attaches to the thorough cleaning of bags containing such materials as artificial manures and lime, states an exchange. in tile case of cement, for instance, it is estimated that 1 per cent, of the material is left on the inside of the bags when they are emptied, and it would not be surprising if, in the case of fertilisers, lime and other agricultural commodities, the loss from the same source was found to be equally high. At all events there is a fairly large field for economy when the emptying from bags of these materials is concerned. The cursory shake which a bag receives at the hands of the man who empties it is rarely sufficient to detach more than a very small proportion of the material adhering to the inside and an appreciable loss, in the aggregate, must' be the case where large quantities of fertilisers are used. Appreciation of this fact has inspired inventive genius to yet another effort on behalf of the agriculturist, for, according to English papers, machines are now on the market which adequately fill the purpose of cleaning manure, cement and other bags containing powdery materials. They are of simple construction and call for no intimate knowledge of mechanics on the part of the operator. The bag is simply inverted and placed in the cleaner. The bottom- is gripped between rubber rollers and the bag is then wound out of the cleaner by means of a handle. At the same time is it thoroughly beaten by the internal apparatus, the residue from sides and seams falling into a drawer at. the bottom of the machine. No damage whatever is done to the bags in the process.