OL. XIII. No. 315. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



172 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. 



A NEW FIBRE-CLEANING MACHINE. 



The following note.*! are given ia continuation of an 

 article which appeared in this journal a month or two ago on 

 the cultivation of sisal hemp in Jamaica. We are informed 

 that the Finnigan Zabriski fibrt-cleaning machines are 

 manfactured by the Riverside Machine and Welding Co. of 

 Pater.son, N,.J., from whom a communication and catalogue 

 have been received describing their machine in detail. 



According to the firm's account, the fibrous leaves are 

 placed side by side on the conveying belts of the feeding 

 tables, after which the machine takes care of the leaves 

 automatically, carrying them to the grip or conveying chains 

 of the first scutching wheel, where one half of each leaf is 

 stripped of the pulp or bagasse, and immediately this strip 

 of clean portion of the leaf leaves the first scutching wheel 

 it is carried automatically to the grip nr conveying chains of 

 the second scutching wheel, where the under or uncleaned 

 portion is similarly operated on, thereby leaving the clean 

 marketable fibre deposited in a holder at the delivery end of 

 the machine, ready to be dried, baled and shipped to market. 



The decorticator requires three attendants to operate it 

 — two feeding the leaves and one to take away the clean 

 fibre. It can be run with a 15 to 20 h.p, oil engine. The 

 machine will extract fibre from leaves ranging from 16 to 72 

 inches in length. Of Bahamas sisal, for example, each 

 machine will turn ott' about 1 ton of clean marketable 

 fibre each day of ten hours. The production of the machine 

 depends entirely upon the amount of fibre contained 

 within the leaves. Bahamas sisal yields about 3 per cent, of 

 the total weight of leaves in fibre, and from this it can be 

 easily calculated what the production would be from other 

 leaves after the exact percentage of fibre contained has been 

 ascertained. 



If it is desired, a system of piping can be arranged to 

 wash the fibre as it is being put through the machine, 

 but in their letter, the Finnigan /abriski Company state 

 that from experience, they find that water is quite unneces- 

 sary and would not advise its use. All that is required is to 

 take the filjre from the machine, to dry it, and then to bale 

 it for the market. 



The 'Hercules' decorticator — as the machine is called — 

 is quoted at §2,500 properly boxed for export shipment, 

 f.o.b. New York. Packed for sea shipment it weighs about 

 14,000 lb. gross, 12,500 ft. net, all contained within 10 cases 

 measuring 30 cubic feet. The weight of the largest 

 package is 1,700 lb. 



RECENT PROGRESS IN LABOUR- 

 SAVING DEVICES. 



The International S>igar Journal for April 1914 con- 

 tains an instructive article describing recent progress in the 

 construction of cane loaders, cutting tools, planting machines, 

 travelling irrigators and compression plants. In Hawaii 

 considerable improvement has been eflfected with a cane 

 loader, and a number of changes have been effected which 

 have resulted in raising the rate from 20'7 to 255 tons per 

 hour for time actually spent in loading and moving the car 



The article under consideration describes in detail the 

 imiJrovements that have been eflected, and it is believed by 

 the committee appointed by the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' 

 Association that the machine has now been developed to its 

 maximum degree of efficiency; or very nearly so. The 

 greatest single factor to increase the quantity loaded is the 

 use of flaring sides or box ears. 



The canecutting tool which was brought to the notice of 

 the committee is driven by a small light gasolene motor and 

 the propeller, apparently of the aeroplane type, is removed 

 and a flexible shaft on the same principle as those used in 

 dental work attached in its place. With the end of a shaft 

 in his hand, the labourer places the saw against the cane, 

 cutting it off in one position. The cane may also be topped 

 with the saw. 



The cane-planting machine is described as an interesting 

 and clever device, but the matter of the regular delivery of 

 the cane 'seed' from the hopper to the trough is not made 

 quite clear. 



Although the committee do not feel sanguine of its 

 success, it is interesting to record that Mr. J. C. Searle awaits 

 a patent for an invention known as a travelling irrigator, by 

 means of which a shower of rain equal to 1 inch or about 

 30,000 gallons per acre can be made. According to the 

 present system of irrigation 3,650,000 gallons of water per 

 annum are used, whereas with the travelling irrigator, it ia 

 claimed, this amount is reduced to 1,080,000 gallons, a saving 

 of 2,570,000. 



Lastly, a new method of shipping raw sugar was pro- 

 possed during the enquiries of the commission. This consists 

 of eliminating the use of the jute bags at present employed, 

 and to compress the raw sugar into cubes of about 100 5). 

 weight having recesses for handholds. The corners of the 

 cubes would be well rounded, and each may or may not be 

 enveloped with a light inexpensive covering which would 

 only be used to keep the sugar clean, and prevent losses from 

 surface scratches. Ordinary raw sugar is capable of being 

 compressed to about 50 per cent, of its volume, the resulting 

 mass being very tenacious and not easily broken by ordinary 

 handling. At the refinery, a suitable crusher will break up 

 the pressed material for remelting. In this way a saving of 

 75 per cent, of the cost of the present system would be 

 effected, it is claimed, besides having the sugar in a handy 

 form for shipment. 



A note in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Intelli- 

 gence and Plant Diseases describes a trial of the 'universal' 

 spring tooth cultivator. This implement consists of an 

 endless screw with crank handle mounted on a support fixed 

 at right angles to the rear wheels. A further novelty is an 

 angle lever which forms an adjustable connexion between the 

 intermediate frame and the pivoting carriage, by means of 

 which, and by turning the above-mentioned crank handle, 

 the implement can be adjusted simultaneously in front and 

 behind to the required depth, even while working in heavy 

 ground and without stopping the team. Another feature is 

 the build and arrangement of the teeth. A tooth consists of 

 two parallel iron bars fastened to the specially formed cross- 

 pieces. The rear bar is prolonged above the cross-piece and 

 connected by a bolt with a strong rod bearing around it 

 a spring which takes up and deadens the shocks that the 

 tooth encounters while working. 



