THE SCOTTISH AGRIMOTOR TRIALS.
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(From Our Special Correspondent).
MANY • READERS of the news columns of this journal will, no doubt, remember that the originator of the Highland and Agricultural Society's Trials of Agricultural Tractors; and Implements, which took place last week at Fordel, was Mr. Phipps 0. Turnbull, who is the convener of the Implements Committee of the Society.. In suggesting to the Society -that. it would do well to hold sante such demonstration this year; he expressed the view that something ought to be done -todemonstrate to the farmer the value of tractor implements, and, incidentally, #6 encourage the -development: and improvement • of these implements. His intentions, and, more particularly, his views as to this. matter, he eplained More fully on Tuesday last, at the inaugural luncheon. In doing an, he gave a remarkable yet, as all who know Will agree, a. well-merited • testimonial to the .tractor, its reliability. and its utility—a testimonial which is all the more valuable. as coming from a practical fanner; one, too, so wellknown as a successful man and
holding such a high place in the farming community.
He said that, in arranging the demonstration, the Society had kept in view the fact that the tractor was now an acknowledged and essential aid to modern farming. It was therefore not necessary for the Society--in its capacity as encourager of new devices in agriculture—to provide special facilities for its demonstration, The tractor, he said, is noW praCtically perfect. 'What was wanted Waft a better realization, amongst the farming community, of its scope, and tho adaptation and provision, by the manufacturing people, of ,implements for use with •it, of various kinds devised to enable the tractor to be employed for work not previously considered to be within its'acope.
It, would also be desirable, at the same time, said Mr. Turnbull, to take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate such tractor implements as were already on the market, the existence of which was not widely known and to show to the public those implements which had recently been improved. Such, at least, was the sum and substance of his words. which I do not claim to have repeated verbatim. •
The site of the trials, Fordel, near Dalkeith, which is about 7 miles from Edinburgh, is an excellent one in Most respects, There were certain risks taken in its selection, to which I will briefly refer. Fortunately, at least at the time of writing, exceptionally favourable weather conditions have entirely eliminated them. There are three fields set apart for operation. With one other, which is utilized as a motor garage and rendezvous for tractors and implements, and in which is located the luncheon, tent, a Mock of four, separated one from another by fences or a road, is comprised. A more cornpact. site could not, therefore, be discovered. These four fields lie between two good roads, and are intersected by yet a third—which indicates the general accessibility. TIrM provision of a half-hourly bus ser v ice between the ground and Dalkeith, whence there is a good service, again, to Edinburgh, completed its claim to that feature; accessibility, in particular. Needless to state, the travelling facilities are provided by the Scottish Motor Traction Co., to which concern residents in and around Edinburgh owe much for the way in which it caters for their general needs in nespeet of travelling facilities.
Of the three fields with which we are concerned, one, of about. 40 acres, was a lea field, the other two, affording about 50 acres altogether for demonstration pur
poses, were stubble. The lea field--of three-year-old lea--is flat, occupying the. high ground. The stubbles are partly in the valley and partly between the V.-alley and the high ground. which means a lot. Indeed, it means ploughing up 0110 in six to one in ten or twelve, according to tho luck of the ballot, by which means the various plots of land were allocated amongst the tractor entrants. It is with regard to the ploughing of this portion of the ground that the risks to which I have referred lay. For one thing, it had to be ploughed eight, inches deep, and had not hitherto been cut more than five to five and a half inches. For another, the top, being stubble, was likely to be, comparatively, loose. Had the weather been wet, few of the wheel tractors would have been able to obtain a footing up the slope, and some -unfortunate scenes would have occurred.
However, the event has been nicely timed, and, apparently, coincides with the arrival (somewhat belated) of Summer, 1922. It is hot, bright, and dry,
and the first day's ploughing, in the worse .field of the two stubbles, has gone splendidly, being absolutely devoid of mishap of any kind, and only marred, if the word applies, by the misguided efforts of one entrant to pull a threefurrow plough when his capacity, in all the circumstances, was only two. As he
v, as on what was undoubtedly one of the stiffest bits of the hill, there is excuse even for him.
There were 19 tractors catalogued, and
due to perform. Twenty did so, the eatra machine being dubbed a Service tractor, on account, apparently, of its Iteving been engaged so as to he available to haul any implement, for which provision had not otherwise been made. In addition to this one machine, the following tool: part in the first day's ploughing :--Austin, with two-furrow Raneorne plough ; British Wallis, with threefurrow Hornsby plough ; Case (12-20), a new model, and two-furrow Ransoms.; plough ; Case. (10-18), and two-furrow Massey-Its rrii plough ; Cletran Junior, and single-furrow Ransome plough ; Cletrae, and two-furrow Bansome plough ; Fordson, and two-furrow Oliver ; Fordson, and single-furrow Oliver, specially designed for ploughing potato land; Glasgow. and two-furrow Oliver; G as. gow, and two-furrow Morton (a new implement this) 7 Hart-Parr (20), and twofurrow Sellars plough ; Hart-Parr (20), and two-furrow Martin ; International Junior, and two-furrow Sellars ; InterI.:dismal Junior, and International twothree-farrow plough ; Blackstone, and Howard three-furrow plough ; Case (15-27), and three-furrow Cockshutt pleugh; Hart-Parr (30), and threefurrow Ran some. (These three tractors are over the official weight limit of
40 cwt.) In addition, there were the two Simar rotary cultivators, the 6-8 h.p.
and the 25 lip., which are self-contained, each with its own rotani implement, oi light spring tines.
The work performed was of such a dead level that it calls for no comment, but this one, which was unanimously expressed by all present, farmers and manufacturers alike, that the ploughing done throughout, and without hny exception or reservation, was excellent indeed, and could not have been improved upon by any known means. Many were the references and comparisons to the 1917 demonstration, and the general opinion was that the progress made was little short of marvellous. All the work set was completed, and each competitor finished off his own plot, so that what was, in the morning, a stubble field, untouched save for the marking of the lands and headings, lay in the evening completely ploughed, ploughed to a nicety, and BO ner cent, deeper than it ad ever been proughed before.
It may seem invidious, even Contradictory, after vt hat has been written above, to maks any selection, but, at the same time, the general consensus of opinion gave the most favourable verdict to the work done by the British Wallis tractor with Hornsby plough, and to the Case (12-20) with Ran some plough. No fewer than 29 ploughs are offered for demonstration, including 2 A.B.C.,
2 Begg, 2 Cockshutt, 1 Dux, 1 Grand Detour, 1 International, 1 Martin, 2 Massey,-Harris, 1 Mephisto, 1 Morton, 3 Oliver, 8 Ransome, 3, Ruston and Hornsby, and 1 Sellars. The cultivators numbered 13, including 1 A.B.C. 9 tine, 2 Dauntless 9 tine, and 1 Dauntless 11 tine. 2 Martin 9 tine and 11 tines; 2 Masse,-Harris 9 tine and 11 tine, 2 New
lands 9 tine and 11 tine, 1 Baneeme stubble breaker, and 2 Sherwood g tine and 11. tine.