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AGRIMOTOR NOTES.

21st March 1918, Page 13
21st March 1918
Page 13
Page 13, 21st March 1918 — AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Ploughing Depths. Competitions and Record Attempts. ,

THE CONTROVERSY CONCERNING dep-th of ploughing is still raging more or less desultorily, I observe. A few days ago I, was chat-ing with a contractor who is putting in some good work with his Saunderson in Norfolk, and this inevitable topic. cropped up. In the course of a, few minutes my friend, whom I -may say bolds decided if unorthodox views upon the subject, put a, -case which had come within his own purview of operations. He was given a field which had been under turnips, and on which, subsequently, sheep had been put on to graze. Now it was to be turned to cereals, barley bèin the selected crap. "Now," remarked the power farmer, "I have ploughed that field to a depth of 34 ins, Why ? Because barley roots have a spreading tendency just-beneath the surface. They don't drive deeply ingto.th.e soil Consequently, if I had ploughed that field deeply I should have turned

the manure below the reach of the roots of the plant, and all its feeding effect would have been lost? " Which goes to prove that depth in ploughing is primarily governed by the .character of the soil and the crop which is to be raised, plus a few other horsesense facts which are familiar to every farmer if not to would-be wiseheads.

I see that the Ferguson plough, of which a fully_ detailed and illustrated description was given in THE COMMERCIAL Moron a week or two ago' is invading England. The first demonstration with this new era implement will be carried out to-morrow (Friday, the 22nd inst.) at Chelmsford. Seeing that our description of this plough, which represents a decided departure from existing practice, has aroused widespread interest, I anticipate a large crowd of farmers, who are displaying a far more intense interest in new plough developments than one may generally conceive. No one appreciates more than the yeoman that in tractor ploughing it is essential for the ploligh to fit the power unit instead of one being content to adapt the existing to the new order of things.

The recently-announced decision of the Ministry of Food to award a monthly championship and money prize in each county for a,grimotor plonghing was a] wise move. Nothing stimulates individual effort so effectively as competition. Among the sections which have put up a smart achievement in this direction may be mentioned the LindseyDivision of i Lincolnshire n the ploughing competition for the first month. This section is under the direction of Mr. R. M. Wright, of Newland; Lincoln, who has vouchsafed me some particulars concerning the number of acres ploughed in one particular area of his district, to wit, the Market Rasen unit of the division, of which he is tractor representative. During the four weeks of February six tractors in the above -unit ploughed 3184 acres and cultivated 33 acres. This represents a weekly average of 14.6 acres per tractor. But as one tractor failed to work satisfactorily, the acreage was pulled down somewhat. If five of the tractors be taken only into account, an average acreage nearer 16 per machine would have been recorded. Owing to the hold up through inclement weather and the wet nature of the land, the conditions were not favourable for any record performance being set up.

According to the official report which has been issued concerning a series of af,rintoter tests which have recently been conducted at LiverpooL under the Board of Agriculture, two interesting performance were put up. One motor, hauling a four-furrow 6-in. plough in light soil, turned up 114 acres during the 12 hours it was running continuously, with a paraffin consumption of 2.46 gallons per acre. A second machine of a different type hauling a two-furrow plough through heavy soil, pfotighed 104 acres in the

12 hours. AGRIMoT.


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