IRON MAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 99, 2 September 1942, Page 6

IRON MAN

PLANTING 2 Oil CABBAGES A MINUTE IN BRITAIN One thousand uu'chine- nk 'i plant yotnii," c: ' ih< ishing rate r-; l;.Ni ;; miiusk- :uv j.ov. helping fams-rd Brii:.!:; b. d lip fooi! production. Hitehcd to, i- tractor, the planter has :• travelling chain oi iron finders to 'which the plants are fed. A broad farrow is opened up in the soil into ■which the plants are suspended, by these grippers, and, at the same time as the plant is released, two wheels (irmly jm-ss down the soil aroJiu! it. A water lank holding iO gallons can also be I'.lletl to the machine, and an adjustable quantity of water automatically poured, into the furrow at the roots of the pia nth. From one to four operators can feed I lie machine with plants at an average of 3000 each person per hour, 'thus making an immense saving in time and labour. The spacing in the row of plants mee!mnicn]'y area

rate and can be controlled; ami adjusted to the distance required; the depth at which the seedlings are planted is also adjustable.

The robot can also plant potatoes by a simple arrangement ot special cups attached to the grippcrs. It can Ijo used' too for lettuce, onions, leeks, swedes, sugar beet, strawberries and tomatoes. Its iron fingers have a rubber covering which en-ables-them to handle the most delicate plants quite gently while placing them firmly and evenly in tlic furrows. The machine, which is a British invention, is now being produced at the rate of more than a thousand a year. It is electrically welded and made with great precision. The Ministry of Agriculture l have bought a large number for Britain's war Agricultural Committees set up in the different counties.