MACHINERY 



MACHINERY 



1953 



cation of the spread of the movement for better pack- 

 ing throughout the country. It is impossible here to 

 discuss the details of the various types of this machine 

 (see Packing, Vol. V). In general they are so arranged 

 that the fruit is carried over graduated holes, beginning 

 with the smaller and ending with the largest sizes. In 

 some cases these holes are in the form of a screen, in 

 some a gradually widening groove or channel answers 

 the purpose, while in still others ingeniously arranged 

 spiral rollers or fingers force the fruit from one cup or 

 hole to another until it is finally deposited in its proper 

 receptacle. These machines are just emerging from the 

 experimental stage and will doubtless be greatly im- 

 proved in the near future, but it is worth noting that 

 they are already giving good satisfaction. It is a safe 

 prediction that in a few years they will be found in 

 practically every up-to-date orchard of 10 acres or 

 more in extent. W. H. ALDERMAN. 



Machines and implements in vegetable-gardening. 



The invention and perfection of tools specially 

 adapted to particular uses and to the needs of different 

 crops has had a profound influence on the extent of 

 cultivation and the profits possible from vegetable- 

 garden products. The character of the tool and imple- 

 ment equipment for market-garden and truck-farming 

 purposes necessarily varies with the extent of the 

 industry, the character of the soil, and the climatic 

 conditions under which the work is conducted. The 

 implements required by the gardener and truck- 

 farmer may be grouped in the following way: First, 

 soil-stirring implements such as those used in the prepa- 

 ration of the soil, plows, harrows, levelers, clod- 

 crushers, and so on. 



Plows. The ordinary moldboard plow is the best 

 soil-stirring implement for use on restricted areas large 

 enough to permit the use of horse-power. When the 

 operations are of sufficient extent, the mounted plow 

 which permits of working from one side of the land, 

 instead of plowing around or back-furrowing, will be 

 found to have decided advantages for garden use as it 

 permits the preparation of a strip of land without 

 making back-furrows or dead furrows. 



Harrows. To accomplish the various needs of soil- 

 preparation, spring-tooth, spike-tooth, and disc-har- 

 rows should be available, and of the latter type there 

 should be not only the ordinary disc- or cutaway- 

 harrow but also several other types, some of which are 

 shown in Figs. 2263-2265. 



Levelers (Fig. 2268). One of the most efficient 

 levelers and clod-crushers is the planker, which can be 

 made at home by placing three 

 planks 10 or 12 inches wide so 

 that the edge of one overlaps its 

 neighbor 2 to 2% inches and the 

 three are firmly 

 held together by 

 bolting them to 

 strong cross- 

 pieces placed 

 about one-fourth 

 the length of 

 the planks from 

 either end. In 

 irrigated sections, a different type of leveler is essential, 

 but this need not be considered in the equipment for 

 gardens located in humid areas. In gardens of good 

 size a roller will also be found of decided advantage. 



The second class of soil-stirring implements com- 

 prises those used for crop -culture. Those that can 

 not be dispensed with are the five-tooth cultivator, 

 equipped with teeth differing in shape and size to meet 

 the requirements of the various crops. The spike-tooth 

 harrow (Fig. 2261), which has a similar frame but has 

 numerous slender teeth in place of the blades of the 



124 



2285. A hand seed-sower. 



2286. The hand wheel- 

 hoe. 



one above mentioned, is another almost indispensable 

 implement. Beside these horse-drawn implements, 

 special tools, such as seed-drills for particular crops to 

 be operated either by hand (Fig. 2285) or horse-power, 

 will be needed. A battery of seed-drills is sometimes 

 devised, for sowing several rows at a time. These are 

 similar to fertilizer-distributers, which permit the op- 

 erator to broadcast the fertilizer over the whole width 

 of the row or to scatter it as a side-dressing near the 

 base of the plants in adjacent rows. The implements 

 needed for hilling, cultivating, or digging particular 

 crops are to be determined by 

 the character and extent of the 

 crops grown. 



Hand implements for cultural 

 purposes. Implements for hand 

 work are quite as essential as 

 the more expensive and more 

 effective horse - drawn inven- 

 tions and no garden can be suc- 

 cessfully cultivated without a 

 variety of hand-hoes, such as 

 broad, pointed, and scuffle-hoes 

 as well as an equipment of wheel- 

 hoes with adequate attachments 

 for performing the various opera- 

 tions necessary to the successful culture of small garden 

 plants. Besides these, hand-weeders, dibbles, and 

 trowels cannot be dispensed with. 



Among the special soil-stirring implements worthy 

 of consideration are the following: 



The Meeker disc-harrow. The successful germina- 

 tion of small seeds depends more upon the preparation 

 of the soil than any other single factor. The market- 

 gardener has a number of small-seeded plants to handle 

 and the quick and adequate preparation of the soil [is 

 an important matter. Before the Meeker disc-harrow 

 came into use, the work of preparing a seed-bed for 

 small seeds had to be done by hand. By the use of this 

 implement, the final preparation of the seed-bed can be 

 accomplished by the use of horse-power in as satisfac- 

 tory a manner, in much less time and at less cost, as 

 it can be done by hand. This implement fines, levels, 

 and compacts the surface soil. In fact, it does the work 

 of the steel-tooth garden-rake in an extensive way. 



The wheel-hoe, shown in Fig. 2286, of which there are 

 many modifications, has played an important part in 

 the evolution of modern truck- and market-garden 

 industries. In the hands of a skilled operator, it can be 

 made to perform a major portion of the operations 

 possible with the hand-hoe or broad hoe and the 

 amount of execution possible is multiplied many fold. 



The scuffle-hoe, which is a very slight modification of 

 the ordinary hand-hoe or broad hoe, as shown in Fig. 

 2287, has not only minimized the effort needed to 

 accomplish certain results but has at the same time 

 placed at the disposal of the skilful operator a more 

 effective implement. The combination of these two 

 factors, conservation of effort and increased efficiency, 

 should mean lessened cost in the operation to which 

 the tool is adapted. 



Next to the soil-stirring implements, those which 

 distribute the seed either in drills or hills, as the special 

 crop may require, and those which distribute fertilizers 

 to stimulate the growth of such crops, bear a very inti- 

 mate relation to the success of any horticultural enter- 

 prise. 



The perfection of reliable row- and hill-dropping 

 drills for sowing extensive garden areas has greatly- 

 reduced the cost of producing many crops. The combi- 

 nation of seed-sowers by the use of special carriages, 

 which are used in sowing spinach and kale on four- or 

 five-row beds, or for planting large areas of hoe-crops 

 such as beets, carrots, onions, radishes, or even cab- 

 bage, has greatly augmented the uses of the seed- 

 sower and reduced the cost of seed-sowing. 



