Agricultural Engineers Study if Cheaper Weed Production Plans Agricultural engineers at North Carol ma State have veeo scien tifically analyzing tob.ceo pro duction since 1950. Their goal is to help farmers produce tobacco faster, easier and cheaper. Fetr characteristics of the to bacco plant or the practices used in growing it have escaped the engineers' attention. In their me chanioad harvesting experiments alone, the engineers have studied 32 different characteristics of to bacco stalks and leaves. How much force is required to Cfcr (fcT "bru 3e " a tooaoeo leal? Hew a trong is a tobacco stalk; haw strong is ? leaf? What is Che shape of a leaf, its thickness, midrib sj^ength and braising tolerance? Hew much force is Deeded to remove a leaf from the sbafc? Will suckers or sucker Dubs effect a mechanical! harvest er? How much friction results when tobacco leaves iare placed ? ? ' ' I egaimst steel? wood? belt ma terial? These are some of the basic questions that the engineers have had to answer before they could get far building a mechanical harvester. Efforts to develop new curing methods have likewise required answers to many basic questions efcout tohaoco. What, for example, are the best times and temper atures needed to cure quality tobacco? What effect does curing have on the many chemicals found in a tobacco leaf? What gases does a tobacco leaf consume or release during curing? How does air flow, heat and spacing affect curing? How does leaf shedding effect quality? Questions such as these could go on and on. Their answers are all nscessary in any scientific attempt to mechanize the harvest ires and curiae of totoaooo. With tbfa type of information, counted with their engineer^ know-how, the State College scientists have made considerable progress in mechanical harvest ing. Both self-prcpeiled and tractor mounted harvester! have been field tested. By 1*61. fMd losses with both types of harvesters bad been reduced to about 5 per cent. This s per cent figure comperes favorably with harvesting tones in almost every other medumixed crop. Yet. the kns in considered excessive, cr phohMtive, in to bacco under the present acreage control system. State engineers have tested 26 different "defoliators" or picker heads in ian effort to reduce the field losses from mechanical har vesting. Two new defoliators were tested during the past summer. The engineers are also expior Open I Savings Account at the First National Bank of Boone with $25 or more, or add $25 or more to your present Savings Account, and yon receive free a 5-plece place setting of famous Original Robers Silverplate or Stainless Steel. With each additional deposit of $25 or more, yon may obtain another place setting for only $2?5. While yon are building a handsome silver service, you are building family security, too. tag the poaribiHUea of removing more teav* from the stalk at each priming than is currently done. If suooessful, ^