April, 1910.] 



321 



1 Edible Products, 



The most skilful Korean rice farmers 

 live in the southern districts, which are 

 called by the natives "The Golden 

 Valley of a Boundless Sea of Waving 

 Grain." It is believed rice was intro- 

 duced into Korea from China, together 

 with other cereals, in 1122 B.C. 



A NEW CANE-CUTTING MACHINE. 



(From the Queensland Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. XXI., Part 6, Dec, 1908.) 



For several years inventors have been 

 at work with the object of producing 

 a machine which will not only cut, but 

 also top, the sugar-cane- None have 

 hitherto been successful. Whatever 

 machine has been, or may be invented 

 for the purpose, it is certain that none 

 will ever work satisfactorily on rough 

 stony land, where, in many cases; the 

 finest cane is grown. Once more an 

 inventor has entered the field, and every 

 one, whether cane-grower; mill-owner, 

 or general farmer, will heartily wish 

 him success. Mr. W. J. Howcroft, of 

 South Brisbane; is the inventor of a 

 machine which, he claims, will prove 

 that he has overcome all the difficulties 

 which previous inventors have been 

 unable to cope with. As soon as the 

 necessary motors arrive from America, 

 a public demonstration will be given, 

 probably at Bunderberg. The inven- 

 tion, which at present is financed by a 

 local syndicate, has been patented in 

 all sugar-growing countries, as well as 

 in Great Britain. Mr. Howcroft sup- 

 plies the following information concern- 

 ing his invention : — 



Like an ordinary harvester, the 

 machine runs outside the cane; and 

 the motor power sets in action a series 

 of blades, which are aptly termed 

 "feelers" or "fingers" which, when 

 not in use, can be raised to a height 

 of 18 in. above the ground. When work- 

 ing, these "fingers" are lowered, and 



seize the cane in the same manner as 

 would be done by a man when cutting. 

 Beneath them are cutting knives, rotat- 

 ing on a lever at high speed — some 

 400 revolutions per minute. These are 

 so arranged that they can cut the cane 

 an inch or more below the surface of 

 the ground, a most important point, 

 as all sugar-growers know. As soon as 

 the canes are cut, they pass on a mov- 

 able platform to a man who watches 

 till the canes reach the point at which 

 they would be topped by the human 

 cane-cutter. Then the topping knives, 

 Avhieh revolve at the same speed as the 

 cutters, top each cane at the right point, 

 after which they are delivered on the 

 ground by means of a trough. The 

 tops themselves are passed out separ- 

 ately. The machine is worked by means 

 of two small oil motors. 



Should this machine fulfil its inventor's 

 expectations, the cost of cane-cutting 

 will be so reduced— amoun ting, it is 

 claimed, to a saving of five-sixths of 

 the present cost — that cane-growers will 

 reap an enormous benefit. The machine 

 is expected to cut 150 tons of cane a day 

 which would mean that a 30-ton crop 

 on 50 acres would be harvested in ten 

 days. This rapid work, if it be accom- 

 plished, will be of incalculable benefit 

 to growers and mill-owners where cane 

 has been heavily frosted, as occurred 

 this year. Thousands of tons of cane 

 could have been saved which became 

 either a partial or total loss, owing 

 to the impossibility of getting the 

 frosted cane off in time, seeing that, 

 at the most, smart cane-cutters can 

 only cut about 3 tons a day, even 

 when working — as many cutters do — 

 as long as 10 or 12 hours a day. In 

 1907, 94,384 acres of cane were crushed 

 out of a total area planted of 126,810 

 acres. The weight of cane crushed was 

 1,665,028 tons. Should this machine fulfil 

 the expectations of the inventor, its 

 value to the sugar industry cannot be 

 over-estimated. 



TIMBERS. 



TREE FELLING, 



By J, C. Willis. 



While lately spending a few weeks on 

 Puget Sound (Washington State, U. S. 

 A.) with my brother, I went into the 

 question of tree felling, which is there 

 brought to greater perfection than any- 

 where else. 



As an instance of the speed with 

 which a tree is felled, an Oregon Red 

 41 



Fir, which I measured to be 175 feet high, 

 and 42 inches in diameter at the point 

 where it was cut, was felled by my 

 brother and a neighbour (Mr. Viereck), 

 neither of whom are professional loggers, 

 in 31 minutes, The wood of the red fir 

 is harder than say that of the Katu- 

 imbul (Bombax) or most of our quick- 

 growing leguminous trees. 



Not only so, but the tree is felled in a 

 direction which is determined before a 



