Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 26 August 1933, Page 8

Farming Column

ELECTRICITY AND FARMING

ROTHAMSTED EXPERIMENTS

Experts ■were invited to the Rotliamsted experimental .station at Harpenden last month to inspect recent electrical and rubber appliances in use on the farm. The station lias been co-operating with well known British rubber and electrical firms, and materials has been. in.use.long .enough t Q express opinions on their utility. So far as electrical appliances are concerned, it is. possible, that New Zealand is further advanced than this country. However, British farmers are becoming- more, and more interested; in the use .of electricity, and this led the director of Rothamstcd, Sir John,,. Russell, .to .equip the farm with electrical apparatus' of the most up to dsite design, with a view to making . comparison with other methods from the... practical farmers’, point of view. Standard overhead lines have been carried on to the property, and ,a substation, with a transformer has been built in the farm buildings. The transformer i5,0f.50 k.v.a., and electricity is supplied at 415 volts,- 3 phase, 50 cycles for power, and 240 volts, single phase, for lighting, heating and small power applications, up to about 1 li.p. *An ample number of plug outlets have been provided, so that the full benefits of electrification are available in any part of -the farm buildings. The connections to the power sockets are of various non interchangeable types, so as to prevent the connection of portable appliances to the wrong supply. Tn the first place, the windmill which pumped the water to the farm tank is now at rest. A 4 h.p. motor has been installed to do the pumping. A float switch con nil in the overhead tank automatically stops the motor when the tank is full. It is • onty pecessarv for a man to start the mot r when he arrives at work in the morning, and pumping ceases immediately the full storage capacity of the tank is reached.

Another pumping application is in connection with liquid manure, whigh is collected in an underground tank. A non chokeable electric pump is installed for raising the liquid- manure from the tank to the tank c"rt. In the barn buildings a. number of electric machines are in use. For the grinding and crushing mill a. iroW of slow speed, running at 575, r.p.m., has been installed. The motor - and grinder are mountpd on ' a bedplate with the motor Coupled direct to the driving shaft of th 6 mill, thus eliminating any intermediate transmission or speed reduction gearing.

‘ NO WASTE OF POWER

For driving machines such as mot pulpers and other seasonal drives, for which a fixed motor is not considered necessary, a portable drumotor is used. This machine has the distinction of being the first electrical appliance to be awarded a silver medal by the Royal. Agricultural Society. It is shaped as a drum with flanges at each end so that it may be roll' d along from prime to place. Folding feet are fitted.for bolding the machine in position when driving, and <.n the drum may he coiled the 4 core rubber sheathed flex. . Other small motors are installed for" such things as cake breaking , winnowing, potato sorting arid grindstones.

On the Rothanisted farm threshing is carried out in the Dutch barns and 30 ampere- power fljlugs- have been installed to furnish power for a portable 20 h.p. slip- ring motor running at 960 r.p.m. This is mounted on a four wheeled track with wide rimmed 1 wheels. The great advantage of this machine and other electric motors is that no more power is used than is necessary. Even the 20 h.p. motor may he applied to a process needing only 4 h.p., and there is little or no waste of powex.

VACUUM GLEANERS FOR GROOM' ING

In the stable portable electric milking machines have been installed, and horses are groomed with a portable electric groomer. This latter is on the principal of the vacuum cleaner. The motor and dust bag. are strapped at the waist of the groom. It is suggested the groomer may be used for cows as well as horses, especiall}' where first quality, milk -is desirable. Naturally with this method of grooming there is no dust, and the animals soon get used to the unusual noise of the machine.

For use in- connection with the milking machines is a 15 gallon electric storage water heater. There is also an electric sterilising steam chest. All that is demanded efficiently to -sterilise utensils is to .place them in the chest, switch on, and after a period of an hour sterilisation is completed. The capacity of the chest installed is 2ft by 3ft by 2ft, and the electric loading is only 4 k.w.

BUTTERFAT RECORD.

A REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE.

A Jersey heifer owned by Mr JBones, the well-known dairyman anu breeder, of lvaipaki, and a member of the Te, Awamutu Jersey Club, has established an outstanding production record, She is Greencroffc Golden.,Grace, who has just completed her c.o.r. test in the- junior two-year-ohl class, with the remarkable total of 864.611b5, q< butter-fat, which is - claimed to be a world’s record for the class. Greencroft Golden Grace started her test at two years and 18 days and completed the peiiod early this month. She is by Almadale Golden Ruler, from Cousin Grace.

DAIRY BOARD SUPPLIES

EMPIRE BOARD’S STATISTICS.

The 'Empire Marketing Board has issued a report, .dealing, wMtSh the dairy produce suppl es in 1932. According to the report, the United Kingdom easily maintained its position as the world’s largest importer of dairy produce, pig and poultry products during 1932, and .these; commodities continued to comprise a. large proportion of the nation’s food hill, equal to 30./per cent, of the total imports of food, drink arid tobacco, As in the two previous years, butter imports by value were greater than that of any other food commodity, but bacon lost to wheat, its second position . as the .second largest item. On the basis of declared values, the average price index for imported dairy products, with 1911/13 ecmalling 109, amounted to 84 in. 1932, compared with an average of 141 ip. the three years 1924/26. For pig products the index was 86 in 1932 against 166 in 1924/26. Total imports of butter into the United Kingdom in 1932 amounted to 8 449,126 cwt, or nearly 5 per cent, above the record 1931 figures and 24 per cent, greater than in 1930. With the decline in re-exports, net imports were nearly 6 per cent, greater than in 1931.

Sources of Supply.

Denmark maintained its position as chief source of butter imported into the United Kingdom, sending five per cent, more than in 1931, and accounting for approximately 31 per cent, of total, imports, or the same proportion as in the two previous years. More striking, however, was the increase in imports from New Zealand ancl Australia, the former, with more than 2,ooo,QOOewt, increasing its supplies by. 14 per cent.-to comprise 26 per cent, of total! imports against• 24 per cent, in 1931; imports from Australia increased by 1-5 per cent, and accounted for 22 per cent, of the total, compared with 19 per cent, in the previous year. Fourth, place was occupied by Argentina, an increase of four per cent., mainly hi the earlier months of the year, enabling, that country to supplant Russia and the Irish Free State. Imports from the Irish Free State have fallen off each year since 1929, and the 1932 figure was 17 per cent, less than in 1931. Russian supplies, -Which had shown a considerable expansion in-1931, declined by 20 per cent.. in the past year. Marked decreases occurred in imports'from Finland, Sweden and Estonia; supplies of Dutch butter were'less than one half of the 1931 figure, while imports from Poland were reduced to a negligible-quantity. On the other hand there was- a substantial increase in supplies of Latvian butter at the expense of the German, market and , a further advance in imports from Lithuania. Imports from Canaclo, following a large increase in 1931, were materially reduced, and slightly smaller Quantities were received from South Africa, hut n ; feature, was, the appearance of South West Africa as a,source, of supply.

Cheese Supplies.

New Zealand maintained its post war position as the principal source of imported cheese, supplying 62 per cent of the 1932 total with an increase of seven per cept. over the previous year’s figure, but below that for 1930. The post war decline in imports of Canadian cheese was arrested in 1931, ancl a further increase of 6 per cent-, occurred in the year under review, Canada supplying 25 per cent, of imports, during each of the past two years. Larger quantities were : received from Australia and South Africa. .As a consequence Empire supplies increased by seven per cent, to comprise 90 per. cent, of the total imports of cheese in 1939: as compared with 87 per cent, in 1931. Imports from the . .Netherlands, the chief foreign source, slightly exceeded ■tV previous year’s reduced figure, but, d : d not attain to the level o c other recent years. Imports from Italy were reduced bv 20 per cent,, while there was a drastic decline in smm lies from S"-Uwrland. Aggregate imports from ether., foreign countries were smaller than in 1931, although certain small s”npl‘ers shinned larger quantities, lie--, ably Denm°rk, Finland, Norway and Russia. Supplies from t-m United States, wc"o rqduced .to reelmible proportions. Imports from foreign countries as a who!" wore 13 per cent, less than in the nrevious year and the smallest since 1921.