Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 11, 2022 19:18:47 GMT 12
From The Press, 19th of July 1958....
Planes For Topdressing First Suggested In 1929
Use of aircraft for agricultural purposes in New Zealand was suggested in 1929, according to Mr G. G. Lindsay, a lecturuer in the agricultural engineering department at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, writing in a Canterbury Chamber of Commerce agricultural bulletin. He says that the first recorded suggestion was then made to the Defence Department that dropping of fertiliser from the air on to hill country ‘‘might be worth trying.” The suggestion was “considered to be impracticable.”
It is now nearly 10 years since the first successful trials of aerial topdressing at rates suitable for superphosphate were carried out at Ohakea by the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council. Within six months of the Ohakea trial and after trials at Lincoln College of aerial seeding from a Tiger Moth the first commercial contract for aerial topdressing and seeding was being fulfilled by a Christchurch firm. In 1950 seven operators used 15 aircraft in spreading 5000 tons of fertiliser and 70 tons of seed. Last year agricultural aviation had grown to the stage where nearly 300 aircraft operated by 75 operators dropped 428,000 tons of fertiliser and 408 tons of seed.
Reviewing the diverse use of aircraft in agriculture, Mr Lindsay says that in the last two years about 40 per cent, of all fertiliser delivered from the works has been spread from the air. Last year the acreage covered in this way was nearly 4m.
“By the end of this year some 2m tons of fertiliser will have been spread from the air,” he says, ‘‘but still many people feel that the spread of fertiliser on the ground is not as even as it should be. It is fairly generally agreed that further research into the behaviour of various spreading devices would be well repaid, and investigations are being carried out by at least three of the State agricultural colleges and experiment stations in the United States.”
Aerial Seeding
On aerial seeding Mr Lindsay comments that where grasses and clovers are sown together differences in their ballistic properties often lead to separation and irregular distribution. In addition quite a number of seeds dropped are wasted, as they fall in positions not conducive to satisfactory germination and development. These disadvantages could be considerably reduced by the use of seed made into uniform and fairly dense pellets in combination with fertilisers and pesticides, but so far this practice was not a commercial proposition. Further research into seed distributing devices for aircraft certainly seemed to be warranted, he said.
In the last eight years nearly 17,000 tons of poisoned carrots and other bait had been dropped in operations against the rabbit. Since 1954, when only about 25,000 gallons had been applied, aerial spraying had shown a ‘‘spectacular increase,” so that by last year the quantity used was 560,000 gallons.
With modern developments in the low-volume application of concentrated and selective spray chemicals, the questions of uneven distribution and of spray drift became ever more important. American work had shown that the spacing of nozzles on an under-wing spray-boom must be slightly irregular if the optimum distribution of spray at ground level was to be obtained. Increasing interest was being shown in the possibilities of rotary atomisers mounted on the wing tips and other devices in place of full-width spray-booms.
In the subdivision of country improved by aerial topdressing, Mi Lindsay says that the aeroplane also can give very valuable service in the dropping of fencing materials. It had been calculated that for optimum results one mile of new fencing should be erected for every 20 tons of superphosphate applied.
Fire-Fighting
Aerial fire-fighting trials in New Zealand had met with varying degrees of success, largely as a result of makeshift equipment and lack of pilot experience, but these trials and those carried out overseas indicated that, with efficient organisation, agricultural aircraft could give valuable assistance in fighting forest and grass fires if they could be quickly converted for carrying and dropping water or borate slurry.
After reviewing types of aircraft used and suggesting that there was some hope that helicopters might be more widely used with the development of cheaper and simpler machines. Mr Lindsay ends by saying that present and future research is certain to result in aircraft making even greater contributions to primary production.
Planes For Topdressing First Suggested In 1929
Use of aircraft for agricultural purposes in New Zealand was suggested in 1929, according to Mr G. G. Lindsay, a lecturuer in the agricultural engineering department at Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, writing in a Canterbury Chamber of Commerce agricultural bulletin. He says that the first recorded suggestion was then made to the Defence Department that dropping of fertiliser from the air on to hill country ‘‘might be worth trying.” The suggestion was “considered to be impracticable.”
It is now nearly 10 years since the first successful trials of aerial topdressing at rates suitable for superphosphate were carried out at Ohakea by the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council. Within six months of the Ohakea trial and after trials at Lincoln College of aerial seeding from a Tiger Moth the first commercial contract for aerial topdressing and seeding was being fulfilled by a Christchurch firm. In 1950 seven operators used 15 aircraft in spreading 5000 tons of fertiliser and 70 tons of seed. Last year agricultural aviation had grown to the stage where nearly 300 aircraft operated by 75 operators dropped 428,000 tons of fertiliser and 408 tons of seed.
Reviewing the diverse use of aircraft in agriculture, Mr Lindsay says that in the last two years about 40 per cent, of all fertiliser delivered from the works has been spread from the air. Last year the acreage covered in this way was nearly 4m.
“By the end of this year some 2m tons of fertiliser will have been spread from the air,” he says, ‘‘but still many people feel that the spread of fertiliser on the ground is not as even as it should be. It is fairly generally agreed that further research into the behaviour of various spreading devices would be well repaid, and investigations are being carried out by at least three of the State agricultural colleges and experiment stations in the United States.”
Aerial Seeding
On aerial seeding Mr Lindsay comments that where grasses and clovers are sown together differences in their ballistic properties often lead to separation and irregular distribution. In addition quite a number of seeds dropped are wasted, as they fall in positions not conducive to satisfactory germination and development. These disadvantages could be considerably reduced by the use of seed made into uniform and fairly dense pellets in combination with fertilisers and pesticides, but so far this practice was not a commercial proposition. Further research into seed distributing devices for aircraft certainly seemed to be warranted, he said.
In the last eight years nearly 17,000 tons of poisoned carrots and other bait had been dropped in operations against the rabbit. Since 1954, when only about 25,000 gallons had been applied, aerial spraying had shown a ‘‘spectacular increase,” so that by last year the quantity used was 560,000 gallons.
With modern developments in the low-volume application of concentrated and selective spray chemicals, the questions of uneven distribution and of spray drift became ever more important. American work had shown that the spacing of nozzles on an under-wing spray-boom must be slightly irregular if the optimum distribution of spray at ground level was to be obtained. Increasing interest was being shown in the possibilities of rotary atomisers mounted on the wing tips and other devices in place of full-width spray-booms.
In the subdivision of country improved by aerial topdressing, Mi Lindsay says that the aeroplane also can give very valuable service in the dropping of fencing materials. It had been calculated that for optimum results one mile of new fencing should be erected for every 20 tons of superphosphate applied.
Fire-Fighting
Aerial fire-fighting trials in New Zealand had met with varying degrees of success, largely as a result of makeshift equipment and lack of pilot experience, but these trials and those carried out overseas indicated that, with efficient organisation, agricultural aircraft could give valuable assistance in fighting forest and grass fires if they could be quickly converted for carrying and dropping water or borate slurry.
After reviewing types of aircraft used and suggesting that there was some hope that helicopters might be more widely used with the development of cheaper and simpler machines. Mr Lindsay ends by saying that present and future research is certain to result in aircraft making even greater contributions to primary production.
