Vol. XIII. Xo. 309. 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



71 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. 



THE ADVENT OF A O^NE HARVESTER. 



For many years much consideration has been given to the 

 possibility of devising some mechanical means of economically 

 cutting canes. It would appear that the most promising work 

 in this direction has been conducted by Mr. E. M. Cockrell in 

 Louisiana. According to the Louisiana Pluntt r, it is con- 

 sidered probable that the Cockrell machine will be used 

 practically and industrially in harvtsting the next cane crop 

 in that State. The-history of the machine in question is 

 interesting At least six types have been constructed but 

 each year they have come back with imperfections remedied, 

 and at last it would appear that all that is now required is 

 a simple alteration regarding the gripping of the cut canes. 

 According to the reference quoted, several canes are grasped 

 at the moment of severance by a set of revolving circular 

 wire brushes. Of these brushes there are ten on each side. 

 The wires in the initial pairs are siilfer than those in the 

 subsequent ones, and herein lies what is regarded as the last 

 imperfection of the machine. With stilf wires on all the 

 brushes it was found that the cut canes were carried upwards 

 with a violence which broke a number of them against the 

 overhead apron; so slender wires were put on all the brushes 

 except the lower ones, with the result that in the case of 

 the four upper brushes, which are smaller than the otherc*, 

 there was not sufficient grip or engagement to hold the 

 passing canes tightly and some of them slipped down, this 

 -resulting in their being topped too high. It would appear 

 ' that this can be readily remedied by the placing of .stiff 

 wires on the upper brushes, but as there is now no more 

 standing cane left in Louisiana for further experimentation, 

 another year must go by before the improvement can be 

 made and tested. 



Whilst being carried upward and backward by the 

 revolving brushes, the cut canes are held perpendicular and 

 drawn into the topping knives — two sharp revolving discs — 

 where the foliage is removed; and since practically all sugar- 

 canes have the first ripe joint at the suae distance from the 

 top end, there is little difficulty in regard to setting the 

 topping gauge. 



The canes after being topped drop to the ground. But 

 it is believed that it will be a simple matter to arrange for 

 them to fall into a cart or waggon attached to the harvester. 

 Some similar sort of arrangement must be made also in 

 connexion with the collection of the tops. 



As regards its general working, the machine drives 

 through the heavy clumps of cane irresistibly, and the 

 'caterpillar' traction — this year's innovation — is specially 

 useful in making a short turn, the method being to slip one 

 side out of gear, so that it does not move while the other 

 side does, the result being an almost pivotal swing, within 

 a very restricted radius. At the recent 1913 trials carried 

 out at Reserve, the machine cut four rows of cane each about 

 900 feet long, containing a stand estimated as averaging 

 26 tons to the acre. The cane was all D.74 variety, which 

 is erect. The machine cut each row in less than fifteen 

 minutes. 



A further account dealing with this cane harvester, 

 presented in the Louisiana Planter for January 24, gives 

 one to understond that Mr. Cockrell claims that each 

 machine will cut, top and strip somewhere in the neighbour- 

 hood of 300 tons of cane a day. A company has been floated 

 for the manufacture of the machines in New Orleans, and it 

 is stated that about October several of these will be ready 



for work. It is Northern capital almost exclusively that is 

 going into the development of this enterprise. The Louis- 

 iana PlanUr thinks that the people of the South, directly 

 interested in sugar production, ought not to disregard, by 

 refraining from investing capital, the rich returns which ara 

 bound to result from the production of a successful ean^a 

 harvester. 



Xo information is given in connexion with what 

 will be the probable initial cost and the running expenses 

 of the machine. 



A Cane-Planting Machine.— The South African 



A;/ricuUui-al Xews quotes from the Louisiana Planter in 

 regard to a cane planting machine, which seems to have been 

 successfully used in (Queensland. It consists of a box 

 to hold the plants. The axle is made .so that tha 

 box is fairly high from the ground, and attached to 

 the axle is another V-shaped axle, on the apex of which 

 is hung an ordinary swing plow, without the handles. 

 The plants are dropped through a leather conduit and fall 

 immediately behind the plough, through a space formed by 

 placing another plate parallel to the plough's original sida 

 plate. During the operation of planting, each cutting wa.-i 

 placed perfectly in line, and as the machine passed on, thei 

 earth fell in and covered them. This work was done with, 

 two horses, but with three it enabled a 10-inch furrow to ba 

 opened out in one operation, and planting could be carried 

 out on both journeys, without the necessity of marking out. 

 The machine weighs about 2 cwt. without the plough, anl 

 it is estimated that it can plant 2 acres a day as against; 

 1 ;ure by the old method. 



New Uses tor Rubber.— The rapidly increasing 

 outturn of plantation rubber is necessarily stimulating 

 inventors all over the world to find new uses for this oroduct. 

 Information in regard to progress in this direction is presented 

 in the India Kuhhcr World in a special section. In tha 

 issue for November 1913, our attention was attracted by aa 

 ingenious way of securing window glass by the employment; 

 of rubber strips. The principle of the idea is that the rubber 

 takes the place of putty, the use of which has been customary 

 for many years. The sash windows are cut with inwardly 

 bevelled grooves to conform with the edges of the rubber 

 strips which hold the glass in place. When the glass is set 

 in the sash and the retaining strips are forced into position, 

 the parts fit tightly together, keeping out all moisture. Ona 

 advantage of this method of fastening is that the glass can 

 be removed at any time without the usual trouble and dirt 

 which attend the use of putty. 



Another interesting invention of an equally simple bat 

 effective kind is a mallet of which the head is made of soft 

 rubber and the handle of hickory. It is capable of standing 

 a powerful blow, and there is no danger of denting or dam- 

 aging the material which is being worked upon. It will be 

 seen that this rubber mallet can take the place of the ordinary 

 wooden mallet and often of the steel hammer. 



The year 1913 has proved the driest during the periDti 

 of fifty-two years that rainfall returns have been taken at 

 the Botanic Gardens, Trinidad. The total fall for 1913 Was 

 only 39-53 inches, nearly 10 inches less than that for 1912, 

 and 2.503 inches below the average for the last fifty-t:;o 

 years. In several parts of the colony, on the other hanJ, 

 1913 was a wetter year than 1912, namely in the West 

 Central and San Fernando and Princes "Town districts. 

 {B'lUftin of the Department of Affricultiwe, Trinidad aii.L 

 Tohago, -January 1914.) 



