Vol. XII. No. 298. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



311 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. 



MECHANIOAL PREPARATION OF COIR 

 FIBRE. 



Attention is called in the i.hi,:,, island Agviculhivai 

 Journal for .July 1913, to the accumulation and consequent 

 waste of coco-nut hu.sks as a byproduct in the copra-making 

 industry. The above publication reproduces an interesting 

 article describing the machinery that it is believed may be 

 economically employed in the ordinary way on plantations 

 to increase the profits of coco-nut cultivation by checking 

 this waste. 



Dealing first with the subject of the return of fibre, it 

 is stated that 1,000 nuts yield, on an average, 90 kilos. 

 <about 198 !b ) of fibre of which (1.5 kilos. (143 lb.) are 

 'brush fibre'. At 4.5 francs (37s 6rf.) per 100 kilos. (220 lb ), 

 this represents a rough return of 17.5 francs (£7 .5.5. lO'i ), 

 plus the value of the "mattress fibre' — a total of about 200 

 francs (£8 6s M.) per hectare (2-471 atires). 



FIVE DIFFERENT MACHINES. 



Proceeding to a description of the machines which may be 

 employed in the preparation of coir, it is pointed out that the 

 first operation is usually done by natives splitting the nuts with 

 an iron spike, but that the work can be more conveniently 

 carried out by a machine which has three serrated knives 

 which seize the nuts, cut each up rapidly, when it falls to 

 the ground in three separate parts. A day's work is said to 

 amount to 14,000 nuts, which represents the labour of 

 fourteen men, as it requires a skilled workman to open 1,000 

 nuts a day by hand. 



The next operation is called 'retting', a process which 

 cannot be done by machinery since it is a slow process lasting 

 for many months. The object of this process is to soften the 

 fibres and produce a favourable yellow appearance. After the 

 material has been 'retted', extraction may be done, but it is 

 generally desirable before proceeding with this operation 

 to subject the husks to a crushing process. This may be 

 effected by a machine composed of two deeply fluted rollers, 

 between which the shells are passed, whence they emerge 

 flattened out, the fibres being now partially free from 

 the glutinous substance which clogs them. 



The fourth operation is exiraction. In using the 

 extractor machine the workman passes the dchrii of the 

 shell to the small rollers in front of the machine, which 

 drag them in slowly, after which they come in contact with 

 the teeth of the main roller which tear out the short fibres 

 and perform a kind of combing on ihe long ones 



The fifth process is done by the finishing machine. This 

 enables the fibres to be separated from the ih'hris, and 

 the short fibres remain in the hands of the workman, 

 who passes them into the separator, a sort of inclined roller, 

 made of a frame covered with metallic cloth over which the 

 di-hrU and dust pass, whilst the long fibre comes out at the end. 

 A special extractor machine has been invented for 

 dealing with unripe fruit. 



POWER REyUIIlEU. 



To drive the machines described above, simultaneously, it 

 is stated that a 20 h.p. engine would be required for the treat- 

 ment of 2,500 nuts per day, unless rope be made (unlikely 

 on an ordinary plantation) when a 28 h.p. engine would 

 be needed. For .5,000 nuts from 28 to 44 h.p. must be 

 obtained. 



A Reversible Steel Barrel.— It may be remem- 

 bered that reference was made to this invention in a recent 

 issue of the Agricultural JVews (Vol. XII, No. 288). The 

 notice has aroused considerable intere.st. Not only locally 

 from Dominica, but also from I'eylon have enquiries been 

 made at this Oflice for further information on the subject. 

 It may be of interest and of use to the readers of this 

 journal to be informed tliat the makers of the patent barrel 

 are: — The United barrel Syndicate, 29 ilincing Lace, 

 London, EC. 



In a communication from the Technical Editor of the 

 International Sugar .lounial it appears that the above 

 firm is believed to be in a preliminary stage, and it is not 

 definitely known whether they are yet able to fulfil any orders 

 passed to them. 



Patent Implement for Singling Plants.— The 



interesting implement illustrated in the accompanying figure 

 is made in one piece which combines two cutting utensils 

 requisite for singling and hoeing at the same 

 time. One end of the tool consists of a curved 

 blade with cutting edges on both sides (b), 

 and in front (a). At the other end there is 

 a narow knife bent obliquely at an acute angle. 

 Between the two is a wooden handle (f). 



The Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural 

 Intelligence and Plant Diseases (July 1913) 

 from which this information has been taken 

 describes the way in which the implement is 

 used. L'nfortunately this description is not 

 given in sufficient detail to make it per- 

 fectly clear. Briefly it would seem that the 

 curved blade (a) is driven into the ground 

 near the plant which is to be left behind. The 

 edges are then Dressed and turned right and 

 left in the ground about it. This is to destroy unnecessary 

 plants in close proximity. The cutting edge (c) destroys 

 weeds reaching low down. The bent knife (d) at the 

 other end of the implement is employed for singling other 

 plants, and hoeing the .soil at a greater distance from the 

 required plant dealt with first. 



Fio 



A Cacao Picker. — The Proceedings of the Agrical- 

 eiiral Society of Trinidad and ToWiyo for July 1913 contains 

 an interesting account of the advantages which are said to 

 accompany the employment of a mechanical cacao picker. It 

 is said that with very little practice an ordinary workman can 

 pick more fruit in a given time with this new tool than with 

 the old, and without injury to the trees. The cutting 

 surface of the picker is very small. The fruit stock is 

 introduced into a fork-like opening through which it is guided 

 down to the cutting surface by which the stalk is severed 

 without injury to the tree or to the unripe fruit It is put 

 forward as a special advantage that in using this implement 

 it is possible always to cut the stalk at a joint — the proper 

 place. With an ordinar y cutt ing tool the fruit stalk is cut 

 in almost any place. CDE3 



The cutter in question can also be used for the removal 

 of dead twigs and for other pruning purposes. The tool, 

 which is known as the 'Star' cacao picker, is manufactured 

 and placed on the market by the Wilkie Trading Co., Ltd., 

 Paris. 



