DIFFERENCE IN AERO & AERIAL TOP-DRESSING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 52, 17 October 1949, Page 5

DIFFERENCE IN AERO & AERIAL TOP-DRESSING

The new system of top-dressing by what is called the “Aero Topdresser” is proving popular with farmers in the Bay of Plenty and causing not a little confusion. Because of its similarity with the word aerial many people are confusing aero top-dressing with aerial topdressing, that which is done by aeroplane. The aero top-dresser was recently demonstrated for the Department of Maori Affairs at Waimana to a large gathering of farmers. The system is to shoot superphosphate fertilised over a wide area from a truck on which the machinery is mounted. The New Zealand manufactured machinery is mounted on the tray of a truck, which is driven over roads on the land to be topdressed.

A petrol driven motor operates a fan, throwing the fertiliser out over a wide area through a barrel. The phosphate can be ejected to a distance of about 100 feet after which it is left to the wind to spread. This new system saves an immense amount of work and walking. Gullies and other inaccessible parts of a farm can be reached with a minimum of effort.

Aero top-dressing is now being made available to farmers in the Bay of Plenty and seems sure to gain in popularity. Compared with aero top-dressing the aerial or that done by aeroplane is a different proposition altogether. The aero system is suitable for comparatively easy flat land. On the other hand the aeroplane method can be used with profit to top-dress rough hilly country. Some of the more mountainous parts of New Zealand have never been top-dressed and the aerial method is proving a boon there. At present the New Zealand Air Force is undertaking some of the work but arrangements are being made so that the work can be done by aero clubs.