Faming, Saturday, December 2,1978
New ideas for
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Ideas to help people un
derstand and accept the
metric system were offered
recently by Marie D Shaw,
associate professor of
agricultural engineering at
The Pennsylvania State
University. Mr. Shaw made
bis suggestions in the
Summer issue of “Science in
Agriculture,” the quarterly
magazine of the Agricultural
Experiment Station at Penn
State.
He said UJS. industry is
converting rapidly to the
metric system of
measurements. This way,
the UJS. wiQ be on the same
measurement system as all
other industrialized coun
tries of the world, he noted.
“All units are consistent
and simply related, and are
based on multiples of 10 -
making it much easier to
mopj
cent
especi
- has
Oberdi
Call)
new
with gas or electric motor
drives or pump only for
direct-coupled or pulley
drive. The basic pump, with
rugged polyester housing, is
corrosion resistant to water,
brine' solutions, adds and
most organic solvents ac
cording to the manufacturer.
Expensive pump liners or
stainless steel construction
are not required.
Among the several
agricultural applications for
the Centrific pump line are
i general water supply;
emegency stand-by;
pumping from underground
tanks; washing down barns
and equipment; sprinkling
or irrigation; pumping
cesspools or sump locations;
dewatering of cellars, dit
ches and ponds; and
refueling or transfer to and
from tanks and trucks.
The Centrific, with a built*
in check valve for rapid
selfpriming, has discharge
capacity up to 160 gallons
per minute at up to 118 head
feet, according to Ober
dorfer Pumps. There is a
choice of ceramic or carbon
mechanical face type seals.
Fasteners are stainless
steel Arubber volute liner is
available for handling
abrasive slurries.
Further information on
Centrific pumps may be
obtained by contacting
Oberdorfer Pumps, 6210
Thompson Road, Syracuse,
N.Y. 13221.
MOWER-CONDITIONER
Sperry New Holland’s new
nine Model 488 Haybine
mower-conditioner adds the
smoother drive of equal
angle PTO to the nearly non
stop, plug-free mowing of
earlier models.
Adjustable windrow
shields form trash-free,
fastwilting windrows for
silage making or deposit
crops in a wide, quick-drying
swath for hay. High-speed,
intermeshing Chevron
rubber conditioning rolls
bruise thick stems for faster
curing. Roll agressiveness
keeps the bar area clean to
work with than the present
measurement system. For
example, a cubic meter
contains 1000 liters, and liter
of water weighs 1 kilogram,”
Mr. Shaw stated.
“Remember, you can
multiply by 10 simply by
moving the decimal point
one place to the right, or
divide by 1000 by moving the
decimal point three places to
the left,” be continued.
Mr. Shaw claimed the
metric system will provide a
good opportunity to make
changes in various standard
measurements. A trouble bed
mattress, for example, is 54
by 75 inches. Most people
would be happier if it was a
little wider and a bit longer.
Accordingly, die standard
metric size will be 1.5 meters
by 2 meters or about 59 in
ches by 79 inches.
He said it will not be dif
ficult to switch to metric
Star Agri Products has
introduced a new line of
heavy-duty confinement
finishing feeders, according
to an announcement by
Floyd Carter, marketing
manager.
Because they are for use
with automatic feed delivery
systems, the new line of
feeders have limited feed
capacity. According to
Carter, Models HDS-481 and
HDS-482 have all stainless
steel and
HDC-481 and HDC-482 have
stainless bottom and
galvanized steel upper
panels. Both types are
specifically recommended
for confinement feeding over
slatted floors because of
stainless steel construction.
Carter explains that severly
corrosive fumes that come
from manure pits can
quickly rust out any feeder.
made with galvanized steel
bottoms.
Models of the new Heavy-
Duty Confinement Feeder
are available with feed
openings on one or both sides
to feed one or two pens of
finishing hogs. The double
side models have twice the
feed capacity of the single
side models. Both models
have full trough partitions
and trough incline with
Agstar’s “Feed Saver Up”
to reduce feed waste. The
feeders also come with “Tip
Top” feed flow control which
lets the operator adjust the
feeder from high inside the
hopper.
For more information
contact Star Agri Products,
KO.Boz 115, Goshen, lii9.,
46526.
add to the cutting efficiency
of the reel-assisted cut
terbar.
Optional equipment in
cludes crop dividers,
flotation tires, plus stub
guards for cutting in wet,
soft grass stubble conditions.
For more information
contact Ivan Click, Sperry
New Holland, New Holland,
Pa. 17557, (717/354-1277).
measuring up in metrics given
aftef'people get used to the
idea. A few new units will
have to be learned. As an
illustration, trousers will be
sized 84 and 81 centimeters
(waist and inseam) rather
than ,33 waist and 32 inseam
in inches. For some time,
both sets of units win be used
so people can become
familiar with the new size
designations.
“The best way to learn the
metric system is to use it,”
he declared. “Get a Celsius
thermometer. After a short
while you’H know what kind
of coat to wear when the
temperature is 15* Celsius.
Get a metric measuring tape
and use it. If the opening in
your screen door measures
66 centimeters by 95 cen
timeters, you obviously need
a piece of screening a little
larger than this to replace
the old one.”
And he observed that road
signs are beginning to carry
both mile and kilometer
markings, weather reports
use both Fahrenheit and
Celsius temperatures, and
many food items are marked
in both ounces and grams.
Some measuring cups carry
milliliter graduations to
measure metric quantities.
Use a conventional cup and
tablespoon measurement if
this is the way your recipe is
written.
Some metric units are
already-familiar to most
people such as 15 ampere
fuses, kilowatt-hours, and ~
seconds. Olympic athletes
compete in 100-meter races,
and dive from 3-meter
boards. Engines will be
rated in cubic centimeters or
liters, as with motorcycles
and foreign cars.
Photographers will continue
to use 35 millimeter cameras
with 50 millimeter lenses. *
“Schools are teaching
metric units so the younger
generation should have no
speciid problems with the -
metric system,” he ob
served.
t *
“The rest of us will
gradually become familiar
with the unite we use
regularly. For instance, we
will begin to think in terms of
20 square meters of carpet
for a room instead of 24
square yards.”
Copies of the Summer
- issue of “Science in
Agriculture,’* with several
illustrations of metric units,
are available free from the
Mailing Room, 112
Agricultural Administration
Building, Univeraity Park,
Pa.- 16802, or from County
. agents of the Pennsylvania
Cooperative Extension
Service.
f*