Abstract: A pickup head for long-stalk crops, generally grown in rows, such as corn, especially for a field chopper or harvester, has a multiplicity (more than three) of mouths each aligned with a respective row and adapted to guide the crop into the throat of the machine. According to the invention, each of the mouths is provided with a respective guide channel, two of the guide channels merging ahead of the throat along the path of the crop toward the latter. Along each of the guide channels prior to the merger, a respective chain or other advancing mechanism is provided, the advancing mechanism of one of the channels continuing beyond the merger point to the throat of the machine. The arrangement permits a large number of rows to be swept although the throat of the machine is substantially narrower than the width of the intake side of the pickup head.

Abstract: A harvester for a multirow corn crop comprises a cutting head whose leading edge is formed with individual cutting members at each of a plurality of channels. The channels run rearwardly and unite at the rear portion of the head. Each of the channels is provided along one flank with a yieldable wall and along the other flank with a chain having entraining members reaching substantially across the full width and height of the channel. The entraining members are preferably of L-shape in plan view and have a pair of friction strips resting against the respective wall of the channel above and below the chains.

Abstract: Transport processes such as emulsification, mass transfer, dissolution, washing or chemical reaction are carried out by admixing two substantially immiscible fluid phases with a rotary agitator having thereon filamentary elements that occupy 0.1% to 20% of the space to be swept thereby, whose thickness is 10-5000 .mu.m and whose thickness-to-length ratio is 1:5 to 1:5000, there being several thousand such elements on the rotor, that rotates at several thousand rpm, the elements having peripheral speed of at least 30 m/s.-- The operation is improved by also including in the fluid medium solid particles of a size 1-1000 .mu.m.