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

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

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

Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of oral versus intravenous mixed-micellar phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) in severe acute liver disease

Background/Aims: In patients with severe acute liver dysfunction, i.v. phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) may be given to exclude vitamin K deficiency, rather than impaired hepatic synthesis of coagulation factors alone, as the cause of the coagulopathy. However, there have been no studies of the pharmacokinetics or efficacy of i.v. or oral K-1 in such patients.Methods: 49 adults with severe acute liver disease were randomised double-blind to a single 10 mg dose of i.v. or oral mixed-micellar K-1, or placebo. Serum levels of phylloquinone and undercarboxylated prothrombin (PIVKA-II) were assessed before and after treatment.Results: At admission, 13 patients (27 %) had either low serum K-1 levels or elevated PIVKA-II concentrations, indicative of subclinical vitamin K deficiency. In the 16 patients who received i.v. K-1, there was one (6 %) treatment failure (K-1 rise < 10 ng/ml above baseline), compared with 12 of the 15 (80 %) who received oral K, (P < 0.0001). One patient in the placebo group developed overt vitamin K deficiency.Conclusions: A minority of patients with severe acute liver dysfunction have subclinical vitamin K deficiency at the time of presentation, which is corrected by a single dose of i.v. K-1. The intestinal absorption of mixed-micellar K, is unreliable in adults with severe acute liver dysfunction. (c) 2004 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Reparation for Betrayal of Trust in Child Sexual Abuse Cases: The Christian Duty of Care, Vicarious Liability and the Church of England

Feminist challenges to the traditional principles of vicarious liability highlight the difficulties facing claimants seeking redress via a doctrine largely developed in relation to the corporate model reflecting masculine traits of institutional power and control embedded in the traditional enterprise employer/employee relationship. This article explores the ways in which the recent spate of claims made against UK religious authorities regarding present and historic acts of child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy have forced a paradigm shift requiring the courts to consider influences on the legal process associated with tropes of restorative justice, powerfully supported and explained by feminist legal theorists. The position of the Roman Catholic Church, however, is shown to be very different to that of the Church of England, highlighting the need for the paradigm shift to develop further and to consider the role of validation and vindication as elements in reparation, institutional as well as individual

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