Many Farmers Want Aerial Topdressing

Chronicle (Levin), 30 May 1949, Page 4

Many Farmers Want Aerial Topdressing

WELLIN&TON, May 29. Not one shadO'W of doubt remains as to the irafportance which New Zealanci hill fai-'mers attach to the earliest possible commenceraent of large-seale topdressing of the broken eo'untry whieli it is today not eeonomic 'to treat by eonventional methods, by sled, packhqpse, or packman. It is one week since the Wairarapa demonstrations- were held, and proved to Wairarapa farmers apparentiy without exeeption that aerial topdressing can be their answer. In that "week applieations have rolled in, to a total of 248,715 acres of hill lana. Only two hill farmers in the Wairarapa area did not make applieation. When Pederated Farmers invited such applieations the intention was to restriet them to areas within" the Wellington area, but firm inquiries have come in from Levin area hill farmers, from Wanganui, and Raetihi. The demands are so beyond the eapaeity- of thh one-ton Avenger arr-cra-ft which were adapted by^, the R.N.Z.A.F. for the sole purpose of testing the possibilities upon a moderate sehle that the almost quarter of a mnlion acres have been arbitrarilv rationed down to 20,000 acres; and even that may bfe beyond the availability of the adapted machines. During the 15 days over" which the Wairarapa tests extended, 137 tons of pelleted superphosphate and, near the end of the trials, some lime, were dropped over 1088 acres, in 57 hours 10' minutes of flying time. When the air and ground radio control and fche hopper loading sections-got into the swing of things the average drop was ten tons daily, with turn-rounds .reduced to about ten minutes. It is, however, a long step, with makeshift machines — though they dia a phenomenallv successful job in 1000aere scale trials— to top-dress 20,000 acres. It is proposed to hold further demonstration,11 in the vicinity of Upper Hutt in the near future. •