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Item Open Access A filter for trickle irrigation(New Zealand Engineering Institute. Lincoln College., 1971-05) New Zealand Agricultural Engineering InstituteFaced with the need for filtered water to prevent blockage or the microtubes used in trickle irrigation and deterred by the cost of commercially available filters , N.Z.A.E.I . staff set about designing a filter for the purpose .Item Open Access Spray notes: Technical information on various aspects important for efficient pesticide application(New Zealand Engineering Institute. Lincoln College., 1984-06) New Zealand Agricultural Engineering InstituteAgricultural chemicals are biologically active. That is, they are poisonous to the target pest, be it insect, weed, fungus, or nematode. Because of their in-built biological activity, many agricultural chemicals are also dangerous to non target organisms such as birds, fish, bees, domestic animals, and man. This note deals with agricultural chemicals as poisons - how you can be poisoned, what the symptoms are, and what you should do if you, or someone else is poisoned. Commonsense steps describing how you can avoid being poisoned, what protective equipment you should have, how to mix chemicals safely, how to store them, and how to dispose of unwanted chemicals are also included.Item Open Access Trickle irrigation installation manual(Lincoln College. New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute., 1979-08) Maber, J.Trickle irrigation is now being used with a wide range of horticultural crops and a good deal of experience has been gained in design and installation. However, while information on design is available, (see N.Z.A.E.I. Misc. Pub. 6 and 7) little appears to have been written on installation procedures. It is important to distinguish between design and installation. The design should describe the overall layout, show the location of the water source, mainlines, submains and laterals, give the pipe sizes required, and state the number and type of drippers together with their flow rates. For orchards a plan should be provided, preferably drawn to scale, showing tree locations. Installation is a matter of putting the design into practice. The design describes what needs to be done, installation procedures describe how to do it. In short, if you are contemplating installing a trickle irrigation system, the steps to be taken are: (a) Decide what area you wish to irrigate and what water source you will use. (b) Prepare a design. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Advisers can help here. (c) From the design order the pipes, pump, motor, valves, and other fittings needed. (d) Set about the installation following the instructions contained in this manual. (e) After installation and proving follow the operating instructions that should be provided with the design.Item Open Access Trickle irrigation design manual - Part 2(Lincoln College. New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute., 1974-09) Jobling, G. A.Part II of this manual is a summary of some of the recommendations contained in Part I. These sections relate primarily to the assessment of the flow rates required within the system and to the hydraulic design and operation of the system components. This information will be useful as a quick reference source for designers, but the necessity of regarding Part I as required background reading cannot be too strongly emphasised.Item Open Access Trickle irrigation design manual - Part 1(Lincoln College. New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute., 1974-09) Jobling, G. A.In a trickle irrigation scheme, water and nutriment are carried in pipes from the supply and applied directly to the soil around the plant roots. Water is applied at low rates, but frequently, to keep the soil around the roots at or near field capacity. Trickle irrigation can therefore overcome moisture stress as a limitation to plant production, and at the same time provide a most efficient method of applying water and nutriment. Trickle irrigation was first used in glass houses in the 1950's. Its use on field crops had been contemplated for some time, but this became economically possible only after cheap, durable, plastic pipe was produced. Even with this innovation, trickle appeared more expensive than furrow or sprinkler irrigation, in areas where the conventional methods were working successfully. Thus ,trickle irrigation was introduced to the field, not as an alternative to conventional irrigation, but rather as a replacement where conventional methods were not practicable. The Arava desert in Israel was such an area; the climate was very suitable for growing winter vegetables (high- priced off season crops), but it had sandy soils and saline irrigation water (approximately 3000 μmho/cm electrical conductivity). Both furrow and sprinkler irrigation were therefore, unsuitable and an early form of trickle irrigation was introduced, the anticipated high costs being offset by the value of the off- season crops. This was the beginning of developmental work carried out in Israel , and the early work during the 1960's concentrated at first on the desert regions where conventional irrigation was not feasible. This work involved underground trickle (subirrigation), but surface application was found to be simpler and better. The very encouraging results of the Israelis aroused interest in trickle irrigation throughout many countries. In some of the more recent work in Israel and certainly in countries like Australia and New Zealand, trickle irrigation has outstripped its initial role of only being used when conventional methods were not possible. It is now also viewed as an alternative to furrow and sprinkler irrigation for row- crops and orchards. This very condensed evolution of trickle irrigation has been given for one express purpose: to make the reader aware that much of the early work done comparing trickle irrigation with conventional methods showed quite a spectacular advantage to trickle, but it was done in areas where conventional methods were known to give poor results. Extrapolation of the spectacular results to areas where conventional methods are suitable and efficient , will not necessarily be valid.Item Open Access Targeted frost protection - Orchard trials(Lincoln College. New Zealand Agricultural Institute., 1986-06) New Zealand Agricultural InstituteThis study investigates the viability of targeting water onto fruit trees for frost protection, thus virtually eliminating unnecessary application to inter-row areas. An orchard trial was carried out in Central Otago, in which the performance of a minisprinkler-based targeted system was compared with that of the conventionally used impact-drive approach. In the targeted system, the minisprinklers were attached to a lateral pipe suspended on an overhead wire. Artificial bud temperature sensors were used to monitor conditions within two treatment areas and at a control site adjacent to the protected areas. Eleven frost events were monitored, spanning the period from tree dormancy to full leaf. It was shown that targeted systems are capable of providing the same levels of protection as their more conventional counterpart, while introducing substantial savings in water volumes used. The targeted system provided a more uniform level of protection throughout the trial sites because, although the range of application rates laid down was similar to that exhibited by the impact-drive system, it was not as spatially diverse. The use of minisprinklers attached directly to, and suspended beneath the overhead lateral pipe has some advantages. However, the possible effects of pipe movement on sprinkler orientation leads to the conclusion that minisprinklers and laterals being supported on separate wires could be a preferable alternative. This approach also has the advantage that sprinklers already on the market could provide acceptable targeting performance. The effects of wind and icing investigated and alternative forms Additional benefits associated with discussed. on targeting performance were of structural support proposed the use of pulsed operation are discussed. It is concluded that the· targeting technique has many attractions for the grower which make it an option which should be considered when frost protection is required.Item Open Access The effect of fire on standard 8 S.W.G. and high tensile 12½ S.W.G. plain fencing wire(Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 1967-08) Garden, G.M.With the increasing use of high tensile 12 ½ fence wire, many people associated with its use are questioning the comparability of this material with the much more common standard 8 s.w.g. wire, particularly its ability to withstand tussock fires. This project report describes a short laboratory programme devised to evaluate the performance of the two types of wire in tussock fires, and also includes a discussion on the general properties of steel which are in turn related to the behaviour of wire in a fenceline. This latter section is included in the hope that a better understanding of the properties of wire will be of benefit to all those involved in the erection and maintenance of fences throughout the country.Item Open Access Air cleaners(NZAEI, Lincoln College, Canerbury, New Zealand, 1971-09) Webb, MaxThere are a great many tractor owners and drivers who do not appreciate the need to protect their engines from dust. There are many of the remainder who do not realise that air filters and their associated parts require the most careful and conscientious care and maintenance.Item Open Access The Dutch harrow, shallow seed-bed technique and chemical incorporation(NZAEI, Lincoln College, Canterbury, New Zealand, 1971-09) New Zealand Agricultural Engineering InstituteAll of our farm crops with the exception of potatoes are established from seed and in many cases this is done annually. Since the earliest days of cropping the importance of plant establishment has been recognised in the saying: "A crop well sown is a crop half grown." Surely good establishment is even more important now when we depend on mechanized methods in farming.Item Open Access Fodder beet cropping using mechanised methods(NZAEI, Lincoln College, Canterbury, New Zealand, 1971-11) Dunn, JohnFodder beet yields a high-energy low-fibre stock food which is attractive to dairy and beef cattle, sheep and pigs. It produces a higher yield of feed units per acre than any other farm crop. It is resistant to most pests and diseases. It is more drought resistant than most crops. The crop may be fed for eight months of the year or more without drying, housing or processing. But because of the many hours of laborious hand work needed to thin and weed this crop the acreage under fodder beet has remained very small. This bulletin outlines a method of sowing, cultivating and harvesting fodder beet which, if followed, will allow the farmer to benefit from the excellence of the crop as a stock food while eliminating the labour of hand weeding and thinning.Item Open Access The New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute - Purpose and functions(Lincoln College, Canterbury, New Zealand, 1965-07) Burton, John RThe first proposal to set up an agricultural engineering testing and research organisation at Lincoln College was made nearly 20 years ago by the late A.W. Riddolls, former Head of the Agricultural Engineering Department at the College.Publication Open Access Electric fencing(Lincoln, N.Z. : New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute, 1984) New Zealand Agricultural Engineering InstituteElectric fencing notes:- 1. Definitions 2. Energisers 3. Wire - standards 4. Wire - load & temperature effects 5. Wire - tensioning 6. Wire - corrosion 7. Wire - electrical properties 8. Insulators 9. Pulse behaviour 10. Network design 11. Earthing 12. TestingPublication Open Access Efficient use of water in agriculture(New Zealand Water Conference, 1970) Burton, J. R.; Heiler, Terence DavidThe objects of this paper are to discuss the concept of efficiency in agricultural water use, to examine current agricultural water usage in the light of this discussion and to indicate some technological improve ments which might lead to improved efficiency in this area.Publication Open Access Water resources - Problems, planning, policy(New Zealand Water Conference, 1970) Burton, J. R.It is widely accepted by New Zealanders that theirs is a wellwatered, benevolent country, having abundant supplies of rainfall and streamflow and no serious water problems. The extent to which this view is prevalent even amongst engineers and scientists working in the water resources field can be gauged from the rather surprising fact that amongst the 25 background papers to this Conference, which are supposed to provide a comprehensive statement of the water resources scene in New Zealand, there is no paper discussing the occurrence and distribution of rainfall and none which attempts a concise, overall assessment of the occurrence, distribution or extent of our surface water resources.Publication Open Access Fencing: Being the proceedings of a series of talks presented at a field day held at Lincoln College in April 1980, together with some additional material(Lincoln N.Z. : Rural Development & Extension Centre of Lincoln College, 1980) Crabb, D. H.Along with most other farming costs, the relative cost of fencing is rising. Yet there is an increasing demand for more intensive and permanent fencing to allow the maximum utilisation of pasture production. Hill country is high on the list for development but is this economically viable? The answer to some of these questions is wrapped up in the technological advances made in such things as on farm log peeling and timber.preservation; permanent electric fencing; conbinations of standard wire and electric fencing; the development of battens that do not require electric insulators and in netting fencing. To display these new technologies, to pass on tips about standard fencing and to discuss other aspects became the aim of a group of interested organisations in the Canterbury area. What resulted was a field day to display and discuss wares and a series of six papers on several fencing subjects. These papers, together with some supplementary material are reproduced here. They do not represent a definitive statement on all aspects of fencing, but will give some very good hints on the topics covered.Publication Open Access Field drainage guide(New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute, Lincoln College, 1978) Bidwell, Vince J.The N.Z.A.E.I. Field Drainage Guide is intended to be a readily available source of design information for farm advisors, contractors, farmers and others involved in agricultural drainage. The emphasis is on subsurface drainage because this is an area where the available information is often difficult to locate and confusing. The technical standards required in subsurface work are higher than for surface drainage and mistakes are not only costly but also not easily rectified. This booklet is not a comprehensive treatise on agricultural drainage and for this kind of information on New Zealand conditions the reader is referred to "The Draining of Farm Lands" by (A. W. Hudson, H. G. Hopewell, D. G. Bowler and M. W. Cross. It is presumed that the need for drainage has been established and that a suitably skilled drainage contractor is available. The information presented herein is an attempt to link these two. Drainage is by no means an exact science. Wherever possible the physical reasons for particular recommendations are given so that the designer can make a judgement on the consequences of departing from the guidelines. In some drainage situations local experience and practice may appear to conflict with methods presented in this guide. In such cases, proven successful practice must be allowed to reign with due regard for the physical reasons behind the apparent anomaly.Publication Restricted An aeromechanically governed wind turbine: a design study(Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, 1979) Chaitep, S.The theoretical model is developed for predicting the aerodynamic performance characteristics of a variable-pitch multi-blade wind turbine. The aerodynamic characteristics are utilized in the design of a self-regulating torque and load system. The optimization of the design, under the influence of severe external perturbations, is investigated in order to select a suitable arrangement in the control system, which consists of a mechanical linkage governor, which will ensure that the wind turbine will continue to operate with good stability characteristics. The study is confined to the aerodynamics and kinematics without considering the influences upon the structural design.Publication Restricted The engineering abilities needed by the successful New Zealand orchardist in the 1990s: A basis for curriculum development(Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, 1986) Atkinson, William DunstanThis study aimed to establish statements of the engineering abilities requires by New Zealand orchardists in the 1990s as a basis for theory-informed curriculum development. Engineering inputs on orchards are significant capital investments and items of recurrent cost. The complexity and interdisciplinary nature of the orchardist's role was clearly indicated by the range of abilities thought to be required in the 1990s. The emphasis given by participants to management-orientated abilities characterises the successful orchardist of the future as primarily a manager calling upon expert assistance when required. Further research is required to obtain the views of students, determine curricula needs for occupations supporting orchardists and identify methods that ensure the implementation and evaluation of theory-informed curriculum development.Publication Restricted Time and motion studies and economic evaluation of conventional bale handling technique in New Zealand(Lincoln College, University of Canterbury, 1974) Mai, T. V.Hay is the most important field crop in terms of land acreage in almost all the dairy farming countries of the world. In the United States, hay is the crop ranked second after wheat, both in monetary value and in acreage harvested. Almost all the hay to be stored is handled in one of two forms – loose or baled. In New Zealand, hay accounts for about 51% of the total arable land. It includes 1,068,000 acres of grasses and clovers and 190,000 acres of lucerne. On the Canterbury Plains themselves, hay occupies 79,000 acres of grasses and clovers (7.4% of the total grass and clover acreage) and 89,000 acres of lucerne (47.7% of the total lucerne acreage). Studies of bale handling methods and management are, becoming controversial topics among researchers. It should be recognised, that mechanisation is progressing rapidly and that the mechanised systems of handling hay will become a necessity in dairy farming countries. As seasonal labour becomes scarcer and more expensive, the management of hay-making operations is becoming increasingly important. The popularity of hay baling is explained by the following factors - 1. Baling machines have been improved and more sophisticated machines are being introduced. 2. Baled hay is easy to handle and is a necessity when hay is being shipped. 3. Baled hay requires less storage space. With the current trend in proliferation of machines, various combinations of machines make possible different bale handling systems. The task of selecting a system that is most economical in terms of cost per bale, time consumption, and labour involvement becomes increasingly complicated and little work has yet been done in this area of machinery selection. Systems analysis of hay handling may offer a considerable opportunity to improve operations and to reduce handling cost. The components or operations of hay handling systems are defined as baling and arranging bales, loading in the field, transport, unloading and stacking. Because many alternative machines exist for each operation in the system, systems analysis provides a means for evaluation and planning each operation in a context of a unified system of hay handling. This study has been limited only to time and motion study as well as economic evaluation for various bale handling systems which are presently operating throughout New Zealand and thus the tasks of building a model, testing and implementing have not been undertaken. Simulation technique has also been used to study the truck-mounted sideloader versus bale wagon performance and manned sledge versus mechanical handling of bales. Weather impinges upon many aspects of agricultural production. Most directly, it affects the various physical operations in the field, restricting both time available for specific tasks and the efficiency, with which they can be completed. In hay making, weather is also important as it decides whether the hay is of high quality or not when harvested. The probability of consecutive haying days and the probability of closed days have been established and given in Appendix B. With reference to day to-day weather forecasts recorded by weather services, farmers with the help of these distributions should be able to make a good prediction on weather to start making hay and so avoiding some risk in their operations.Publication Open Access The permeability of riverbed sediment samples(Lincoln College. Department of Agricultural Engineering., 1974-11) Takahashi, Tamotsu; van't Woudt, Bessel; Nicolle, KelvinThe Canterbury Plain stretches roughly 120 km along the Pacific coast and from the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps, at some 300m elevation, it stretches roughly 60km to the coast. A depth of sediment of several hundred metres has been measured near the coast. The sediments consist mainly of gravel and sand mixtures, lenses of gravelfree sand and layers of wind-blown and water-borne glacial silt. The three major rivers on the plain, the Waimakariri, the Rakaia and the Rangitata remain incised upstream over roughly half their length from the foothills to the coast. According to information collected by the N. Z. Geological Survey of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research , by the North and South Canterbury Catchment Boards and the Ministry of Works and Development on ground- water contours, supported by field observations on seepage patterns along the river banks, groundwater in this upper section tends to move towards the rivers. Farther downstream the ground-water contours indicate a movement of water from the riverbeds to ground-water. Closer to the coast the levels of riverbeds, ground water and ground surface tend to intersect as evidenced by groundwater- fed streams and drainage problems. As far as the Waimakariri river is concerned, the river most studied because of its significance for water supply to the city of Christchurch, the contours indicate that the ground-water level dips below the river level a short distance downstream from where river incisement ceases, probably over a distance of 4km. On the basis of river-flow measurements, recharge of ground water from the riverbed takes place in this section. Using the area-velocity method, a number of measurements have been made on river losses in this sector (summarized by Mandel, 1974), but owing to the difficulty that exists in measuring flow in braided rivers, a certain reservation still persists as to the reliability of the informationo Therefore, there remains an interest in obtaining corroboration and further information on the magnitude of the recharge and the factors that govern it. In the present work an attempt has been made to understand some of the basic factors involved in this recharge by studying the hydraulic characteristics of riverbed sediments. In a separate study the movement of fine particles within these sediments is studied and another study aims at improving on the measurement of river flow in braided channels by attempting to refine a dye-dilation method for this purpose.