Four mobile picking and pruning platforms for orchards

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

Bulk handling in the orchard

By using specially-designed tractor-drawn trailers to transport apples in bulk from the trees to the grading and sizing machines, Mr. Ralph Grist, of Donnybrook, has effected considerable saving in labour on his 16 1/2 -acre orchard during the harvesting period

Modern developments in bulk handling of apples

One of the results of mechanisation replacing physical labour has been the development of bulk handling of many commodities. Apart from the saving of time, effort and cost, bulk handling of agricultural produce enables quicker harvesting at the right time

Inspire, create, unite : celebrating diversity

Celebrating cultures in diverse schools is important for young children. Such celebrations allow children to gain knowledge and experiences with other cultures. Intolerance and stereotypes stem from ignorance, misinformation, and fear. Thus, the more exposure children have to what they do not know or have not experienced, the greater the likelihood that they will be tolerant of cultural differences. Parents and staff of Bay View Academy were interviewed to see what could be done to sustain and grow what will hopefully become an annual Cultural Day at Bay View Academy. The results show that the collaboration between parents, staff, and the community is necessary for maintaining a successful event that engages the students deep into other cultures. More specifically, the day is supplemented with learning starts in the classroom with the teachers and then, as groups from the community come in to share their cultures with the students, the hands-on experiences further drives the teachers’ lessons home. The goal of this day is to create positive experiences tied with other cultures, as means of replacing negative perceptions. As a result of this project, hopefully the annual Cultural Day at Bay View Academy will continue to do such work

Fence out those rabbits

THERE is probably no more distressing sight to orchardists\u27 eyes than two or three hundred young fruit trees that have been damaged by rabbits

A successful method of spraying against looper caterpillars and other springtime pests

Description of a method which has proved successful over the past two seasons on the orchards of Messrs. J. L. Parke and W. Parke, of Donnybrook, should prove of interest to the large number of apple growers who during past seasons have suffered losses due to excessive blemishing of fruit by looper caterpillars (Chloroclystis lacticostata) and other spring pests

Water conservation on the farm

There is no sounder guarantee of agricultural prosperity than an adequate supply J . of good water a fact that should be fully appreciated at the present time when, following upon an unusually dry season, many farms are already experiencing water shortages. This description of the manner in which Wilfred Dilley and his son Beris, tackled their water conservation problems may serve as an incentive to other Southwest farmers in similar situations

Further developments in the bulk-harvesting of apples

Following the successful introduction during last season of bulk-harvesting of A apples by two West Australian fruitgrowers—one at Donnybrook, the other at Kendenup—this year has seen more ambitious ventures in this field both by growers and the major packing houses of the Donnybrook district. Six growers and two large central sheds have installed equipment to handle bulk bins and not unnaturally a variety of types and sizes of bins have been built, and several methods of handling them evolved

Early hail marks on apples do not grow out

ALTHOUGH the 1964/65 season brought a record crop with a good proportion of high quality fruit, the year was marred by several violent hailstorms in separate parts of the South-West

Changes to nurses’ practice environment over time

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aims: To examine changes in the nursing practice environment, retention-related factors, unit stability and patient care tasks delayed or left undone, over two periods between 2004 and 2013. Background: Positive nurse practice environments have been linked to nurse retention and care quality outcomes. Methods: The collection of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, job satisfaction, intent to leave, unit instability and tasks delayed or not done at six acute-care hospitals across three Australian states, in two waves between 2004 and 2013; results from the two waves are compared. Results: On average, practice environment scores declined slightly; nurses reported a greater difficulty in finding another nursing position, lower intent to leave their current job and greater instability in their current position. Rates of delayed tasks increased over the period, whereas rates of tasks left undone have decreased over the period. Conclusions: The decline in nurses’ perceptions of the quality of the practice environment is disappointing, particularly given the protracted workforce shortages that have persisted. Significant organisational restructuring and turnover of nurse executives may have contributed to this decline. Implication for Nursing Management: Managers need to apply existing evidence to improve nurse practice environments and manage instability