Doty-Wendt Paper laying Machine, Hawaii, [s.d.]

Photograph of the Doty-Wendt Paper laying machine, in Hawaii, [s.d.]. A man stands behind two horses, which drag a device called a "paper laying machine" through the muddy soil, leaving paper mulch above the roots of crops. The background is neutral.; Back of photoprint reads: "Doty-Wendt Paper Laying Machine (From the Hawaiian Planters' Record issued October 1922 by the Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association) 'The results already obtained indicate that the use of paper as a mulch above the roots of pineapple plants is destined to become a common practice in the pineapple agriculture of the future. The adaptation of the paper mulch to pineapple culture has been a very simple matter, requiring only slight deviation from planting methods already in vogue. A suitable bed of earth is first prepared to receive a row of pineapples; the paper is then applied to this bed in long strips, its edges being held down by a covering of soil; and the pineapple plants are inserted through holes made in the paper at proper intervals. Up to the present time, the preparation of the bed and the laying of the paper has been done by hand and, consequently, at considerable expense. The machine illustrated herewith prepares the bed, lays the paper and covers its edges in one operation and at very moderate expense. It may be drawn by mules or by a light tractor. There are three essential parts to this machine, each part performing a definite function: (1) A plank drag-sled which pulverizes the soil and forms it into a bed of the desired shaped to receive the paper; (2) A flanged roller or spool which is attached to the rear of the sled and shapes the paper over the bed, tuning its edges down into the furrows made by the sled runners; and (3) Shovels or disks which are placed just back of the flanged ends of the roller and which serve to throw the soil against and over the edges of the paper. The sled may be modified to draw the soil into a bed of any shape desired. The spool should be shaped to conform to the crown of the bed, its barrel being cylindrical if the top of the bed is to be flat and concave if the top of the bed is to be curved"