AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
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The Opening of the Summer Show Season.
THE AGRICULTURAL show season commenced on • Wednesday -last in England, when the Oxford County Show was opened at Oxford and the Devon County at Exeter. The 'weather was fine though, threatening all day. As was to be ex
pected, manufacturers of tractors and tract-Or im . .
plements _had left most of their exhibiting in the hands of agents. There were good displays of all kinds of farm implements, the specimens being mostly of implements suitable for local use. The increased railway rates, the. difficulties with labour and other matters had made it impossible for the manufacturers themselves to stage their own 'exhibits. Besides, it was always the customfor the local agents to attend to these matters. One noticed that horse implements predominated in numbers, but tractor implements were well represented. The fine collection of power implements was an unmistakableaindication of the great stridesbeing made -in power farming: At the Exeter Show, the International, Austin and Fordson tractors were in. evidence. The largest trace tars at.thiashow were the Saunderson and the Emerson: the Austin was staged by the manufacturers and the Emerson by the sole agents.. .There wa-s to be seen the usual line of tractor implements, including Ranseme's tWo-furrow and three-furrow ploughs, with disc coulter and skim, and also-, their cultivators.. A useful cultivator' waslexhibited by Mr. E. V.' Twase, of Tiverton. Deering and McCormick large-sized binders were tes. be:seen; and the Cockshutt and Hamilton ploughs. /The Marshall steamitra,etion engine and the Sentinel ‘steam wagon were the only
transport vehicles there. A very';' useful' looking. machine was a small thresher of theDutel type,, of a size and price which should suit almost any farmer for use ondliaown farm with a tractor. The development of such machines as these should provide for the greater use of the tractor for threshing purposes. It was very noticeable that no petrol lorries or other vehicles suitable for use on a farm were exhibited. This was the case both at Oxford and at Exeter. It is known that some farmers expected to see something in this line, and the hope has been expressed that, as the difficulties of manufacture and transport clear up, we may see an effort being made at these county. shows 'to bring to the_notice of farmers motor lorries suitable for their 'work.
An Oxford, there was: a great display of general farming implemematt: there was a large number of tractors, some makers being represented by as many as five examples. The Austin, International, and Fordson were all very much in evidenee. There was one each of the Cleveland, Clayton, Saunderson, Titan and. Crawley. The Austin, Saunderson and International, as 'well as the Crawley, attracted considerable attention, all these machines being highly suits able for the arable . work of the Oxford district. Messrs. G. Brown and Co., of Leighton Buzzard, had staged both the -Fordson and the International, and a number of implements for use with them. Messrs. Hartwell, Curtiss and Horn, Oxford, had on their stand five Austins, one of, which was engagedin driving 'a Clayton threshing set, including all. the necessary accessories ; a Titan, and. an International. They had also a number ,of 'implements. Lee and Sons, of Witney, had an Austin and an International tiactor with Nicholson tractor implements and In
ternational plough. An International tractor was also exhibited by R. and R.Potter, of T-hame. E. and H. Roberts, Deanshanger, had a Saunderson tractor and Roberts plough. This was a'very good and attractive looking outfit.' It was the Model 61. 25 b.h.p., showing strong and effitient7deeigna It had the now usual winding drum with 50 yards of. cable, having a pull of 9,000 lb. Ballard and Son, of 'Abingdon, had an International tractor and Martin's ti actor cultivators.
An interesting exhibit was seen on the stand of Webb and Bennett, of Bicester. They had an International tractor with a McCormick large-sied 8 ft.
binder, suitable for tractor work. The tractor was attached to the machine, and the necessary hitches were shown. Newitt and Rees, of Princes Riteborough, had three International tractors and International and Ransome's ploughs. The only novelty expected in the tractor line was not there. J. Mawle and Sons, of Banbury, had a Blackstone-creeper tractor, but in the catalogue it waslisted that they would show what, to most farmers in this country, is a new tractor—the'Whitney Upon inquiries at their stand, however, I learned that the machine had not arrived. The only Crawler tractor or. the ground was shown by W. Wilder, of Crowmarsh.
There was a good display of implements at the Dublin Show which opened on Tuesday of last week, and it is true that unsettled as the country is, there is a heavy demand for agricultural implements. Agriculture is looking-up in:Ireland, and the tractor, with its extra strong-implements, is. neededthere, and it rather appeared that a littleipushing on the part of manufacturers and -salesmen would do ,no harm. The English makers.have coneentrated on Dublin as transport difficulties and charges make it impassible for them to attend all the Irish. shows. This accounts for the large number of tractors and implements at Dublin.
The Newark Shaw opened on Thursday, arid here again there was a good show of implements, tractors, and accessories.
The attitude of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders precludes the exhibition of commercial
vehicles suitable for -agricultural uses except at two or three of the agricultural shows, yet this is the very class of exhibit the farmers want to see just now. They want motor lorries, but they do not want the kind of vehicle that is used for ordinary read transport, and they need the aid of salesmen and.manufacturers in the selection of the vehicles most suitable for them.
A word on the ,implements may,not be out of place. The fact which forces itself most-upon one's mind is the apparent lightness of implements designed for tractor work. There were very good specimens to be seen at all the shows, but rshould be veryenuch surprised itit, were notitpossible to effect improvements !both in strength and efficiency. -This.is true of most cultivating implements, but more ,particularly so of mowers, binders, and harvesting machines. Massey ,Harris and: ,the International .Ilarvesteia:Co. have some good binders but. if I an not mistaken, these machines-wouldido well to be stronger for work with the tractor. There were no .novelties of any kind— not even in cultivators, but perhaps we shall 'see these at the Bath and •West this week, or at,the Royal.
The:Titan tractor appears toniavesclone good service among . farmers in Oxfordshire, for, although there was only one, at the show, farmers were speaking.of it in the mostoeulogistic terms. Much surprise was occasioned by the fact that azefew English tractors had been entered in comparison with the Americans. It was originally -intended to hold a tractor demonstration, but this fell through. Acermor.