Applied Mechanics Commons^™

Four Mobile Picking And Pruning Platforms For Orchards, J C. Rowbotham

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Shifting ladders around the orchard takes a great deal of time and effort at picking and pruning time.

This article describes four home made labour savers which take most of the ladder work out i f these operations.

Mastitis : Modified Teat Cups Give Better Back-Flushing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Back-flushing of the teat cups has not brought the expected reduction in the spread of mastitis in some dairy herds.

Replacement of the conventional nut-and-tail nipple with a special flushing nipple, or use of a one-piece teat cup liner, will ensure that flushing is efficient.

Milking Machine Efficiency And Shed Husbandry Practices, G R. Olney

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MILKING machine efficiency on dairy farms in the Bridgetown, Greenbushes, Balingup, Boyup Brook and Nannup areas was the subject of a recent testing survey.

During the survey 106 machines were tested and the results assessed statistically to gauge the general level of machine efficiency in these districts.

A Simplified Mulesing Crush, G T. Halpin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DURING the last two years Mr. Tom Flanigan, a mulesing contractor in a large area centred at Katanning, has performed the mules-tailstrip operation on many thousands of lambs and sheep.

A Core Sampler For Silage, A L. Hamilton

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FOR five years now the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture has conducted a silage competition on behalf of the Australian Dairy Produce Board Pasture Improvement Committee.

The competition is for farmers in the Southwest dairying districts and has attracted an increasing number of entries each year.

Irrigating Dry Season Crops In The Ord Valley : How To Prepare Land For Sowing, D F. Beech

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE best way to grow dry season crops of safflower, linseed and rapeseed under irrigation in the Ord Valley is by sowing on to broad flat ridges, separated by small furrows 3 ft. 6 in. apart.

This system of sowing is called the "corrugation" method.

The Effects Of Tillage Implements On Cereal Yields, H M. Fisher

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Careful soil preparation is essential for cereal crops grown without fallow on clover ley land.

Crops give better yields where the land is broken up with a mouldboard or disc plough rather than a scarifier or similar machine.

The implements differ appreciably in their capacity to control weed growth and this is largely responsible for variations in cereal yields. "Takeall" disease is reduced by efficient weed control.

Check Your Milking Machine, T Pavy

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

MILKING machine efficiency testing carried out by officers of the Department of Agriculture's Dairying Division have shown that many machines are not up to standard.

One reason for this is that farmers do not check their machines regularly.

Automatic Waterers For Day Old Chickens, P Smetana, W. Ward

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the most tedious and time consuming tasks on a poultry farm is the provision of water to chicks from day old up to the age of three or four weeks.

Most poultry farmers use half-gallon glass fonts with metal bases for the first few weeks, until the chicks are old enough to use the automatic watering system usually situated along one wall of the brooder house.

This cumbersome glass font system can be replaced by the cheap and easily installed automatic watering system described below. This system has already been adopted by several local poultry farmers.

Bulk Handling Of Superphosphate, H G. Cariss

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A MAJOR factor in our agricultural production is the outlay for fertilisers, including the cost of their application to the land.

Any means which can be employed to reduce these costs are therefore of extreme importance to the State's agriculture.

The bulk-handling of fertilisers could be one way of reducing these costs to the farmer.