less than a day.

Digging potatoes by hand and humping 50-pound bags is today a thing of the past.

With the arrival of a Norwegian state-of-the-art potato picker last month -- the first of its kind on the Island -- farmer Mr. Jose Pacheco and his team claim the hard work is done for them.

And the advent of the fire-engine red machine is particularly well-timed because this year has brought with it a bumper crop with the biggest and most plentiful potatoes since 1949, according to Mr. Pacheco.

"It is the biggest crop we have ever had,'' he claimed.

Since putting the machine to work, farm hands now spend their time sorting the crop and tying bags. The rest of the work is done for them.

"A blade cuts underneath and two disks sweep the potatoes onto the conveyor belt,'' explained Mr. Pacheco's son Mr. Roger Pacheco. "It then drops them in a bag. It saves us three-quarters of the work.'' He estimated the machine filled up to 100 sacks an hour. The bags are then trucked to the Government market centre.

The ingredients for the king sized crop? Favourable weather conditions and excellent seed, explained Mr. Pacheco, Sr.