disastrous harvest

disastrous, cataclysmic, catastrophic, calamitous.

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► adjetivo

1 disastrous

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ADJ disastrous, calamitous

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- sa adjetivo disastrous

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= appalling, calamitous, disastrous, ruinous, abysmal, shambolic, catastrophic.

Ex. His article, 'The skeleton in the our closet: public libraries art collections suffer appalling losses,' examines the problem of theft and mutilation of art materials in public libraries.

Ex. Library automation was in its ascendancy at precisely the same time that the nation's economy was firmly embarked on its present calamitous decline.

Ex. It gives an overview of the problems faced by the Los Angeles Public Library after it was gutted by the disastrous fire in 1986.

Ex. Negative features are the water sprinkler fire extinguishing system, which, if activated, would be ruinous to the Library's holdings.

Ex. The communications infrastructure in Africa varies from very good to abysmal = La infraestructura de comunicaciones en †frica oscila entre muy buena y pésima.

Ex. Hundreds of usually loyal fans booed and jeered as the tortured singer delivered a shambolic and apparently drunken performance.

Ex. Naturally changes stemming from these actions will affect all users of LC cataloging data, but it seems unlikely that the consequences will be catastrophic.

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* de forma desastrosa = disastrously.

* de modo desastroso = disastrously.

* efecto desastroso = chilling effect.

* ser desastroso = spell + bad news, be a shambles, be (in) a mess.

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- sa adjetivo disastrous

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1 (catastrófico) disastrous, catastrophic

2 (uso hiperbólico) disastrous

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◊ -sa adjetivo

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desastroso, -a adj

1. [castastrófico] disastrous;

la helada fue desastrosa para la cosecha the frost had a disastrous effect on the harvest

2. [muy malo] disastrous;

esta comida es desastrosa this food is appalling o awful

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adj disastrous

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desastroso, -sa adj

: disastrous, catastrophic

fatal

era fatale che non si sarebbero mai più rivisti they were fated never to meet again

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fatale agg.

1 fatal, deadly, mortal; ( funesto) disastrous: colpo fatale, fatal (o deadly o mortal) blow; ora fatale, fatal hour; ciò le riuscì fatale, this proved fatal to her; la siccità fu fatale al raccolto, the drought had a disastrous effect on the harvest // occhi fatali, irresistable eyes // donna fatale, vamp (o femme fatale)

2 ( inevitabile) inevitable, fated, fateful, destined: era fatale che s'incontrassero, they were destined to meet.

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1) (irrimediabile, disastroso) [ errore] fatal

2) (mortale) fatal

3) (determinato dal destino) [ evento] fated, destined

4) scherz. (irresistibile) [ sguardo] irresistible

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fatale

/fa'tale/

aggettivo

 1 (irrimediabile, disastroso) [ errore] fatal

 2 (mortale) fatal; il viaggio gli è stato fatale the journey proved fatal

 3 (determinato dal destino) [ evento] fated, destined

 4 scherz. (irresistibile) [ sguardo] irresistible; donna fatale vamp, femme fatale.

SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology

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A farmer's son, at the age of 17 McKay developed modifications to the existing stripper harvester and created a machine that would not only strip the seed from standing corn, but was able to produce a threshed, winnowed and clean sample in one operation. The prototype was produced in 1884 and worked well on the two acres of wheat that had been set aside on the family farm. By arrangement with a Melbourne plough maker, five machines were made and sold for the 1885 season. In 1886 the McKay Harvester Company was formed, with offices at Ballarat, from which the machines, built by various companies, were sold. The business expanded quickly, selling sixty machines in 1888, and eventually rising to the production of nearly 2,000 harvesters in 1905. The name "Sunshine" was given to the harvester, and the "Sun" prefix was to appear on all other implements produced by the company as it diversified its production interests. In 1902 severe drought reduced machinery sales and left 2,000 harvesters unsold. McKay was forced to look to export markets to dispose of his surplus machines. By 1914 a total of 10,000 machines were being exported annually. During the First World War McKay was appointed to the Business Board of the Defence Department. Increases in the scale of production resulted in the company moving to Melbourne, where it was close to the port of entry of raw materials and was able to export the finished article more readily. In 1909 McKay produced one of the first gas-engined harvesters, but its cost prevented it from being more than an experimental prototype. By this time McKay was the largest agricultural machinery manufacturer in the Southern hemisphere, producing a wide range of implements, including binders. In 1916 McKay hired Headlie Taylor, who had developed a machine capable of harvesting fallen crops. The jointly developed machine was a major success, coming as it did in what would otherwise have been a disastrous Australian harvest. Further developments included the "Sun Auto-header" in 1923, the first of the harvesting machines to adopt the "T" configuration to be seen on modern harvesters. The Australian market was expanding fast and a keen rivalry developed between McKay and Massey Harris. Confronted by the tariff regulations with which the Australian Government had protected its indigenous machinery industry since 1906, Massey Harris sold all its Australian assets to the H.V. McKay company in 1930. Twenty-three years later Massey Ferguson acquired the old Sunshine works and was still operating from there in the 1990s.

Despite a long-running history of wage disputes with his workforce, McKay established a retiring fund as well as a self-help fund for distressed cases. Before his death he created a charitable trust and requested that some funds should be made available for the "aerial experiments" which were to lead to the establishment of the Flying Doctor Service.

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