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--Fresh Points of View by—By "The Extractor." Mr. Edge, Why Not the Addirley ?
On this page in the issue of 31st July, I voiced the opinion that, in the naming of commercial vehicles it was worth considering whether it was advisable in the case of pleasure-vehicle manufacturers to use the same name. It probably gives the private owners of a Daimler, a Wolseley or a Napier somewhat of a shock to see motorbuses, butcher's vans and beer lorries with the more high-sounding names emblazoned thereon. Although such makers properly desire to take advantage of the publicity already attained, in my opinion this would be equally well maintained, because it would be made quite clear both by represetatives and by advertisements that the Adderley, say, or the Acton was the commercial vehicle of the Wolseley or the Napier house respectively. I had a talk on this subject with one prominent maker, who took, however, an entirely opposite view to myself. With a pleasure-car reputation second to none, he maintained that the . van bearing the same name was half sold and that, as far as he could see, and he jealously watched these points, the private owners were not in the least concerned. .I am perhaps looking forward too far, but I feel all the same that my view,generally speaking, is right. I think. some expressions of opinion from makers would be most valuable, and I invite correspondence on the question for purpose of publication. On this paper we are not immediately concerned with the interests of the pleasure-vehicle maker, but it does concern us, representing a new industry, to give a strict eye to correct naming.
Speed-and-Feed Methods on the Farm.
It is always interesting to have a talk with Mr. S. F. Edge, the Preident of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. This was not a business talk, it was over ". dish of tea.'" and the conversation flitted from paper-bag to electric cooking, with which subjects he seemed tobe entirely familiar. He had expressed an opinion that a paper-bag-cooked chop looked terribly " anwmic," when the talk shifted on to the increased price of land, and one gentleman said ruefully that the •demand for -golf courses had too much to do with it. Mr. S. F. Edge was then eagerly questioned about his country estate and his farming experi sir thereon.
One thing was made clear, that Mr. Edge. has gone into this hobby with his usual intensity, thorough ness and originality. The estate, of some 400 acres, is near Ditchling, Sussex, mine six miles from Haywards Heath and three from Burgess Hill, but railway stations do not interest our friend : he uses his Napier car daily to bring him up to London and back. He is trying to prove that dairy farming can be made to pay under perfectly hygienic conditions. The majority of small farmers and farm labourers, in his opinion, live in an appalling state of insanitariness, and it is one of his aims that his tenants shall live in healthy houses and cottages only, and he has already closed many cottages on his estate which, in his opinion, are unfit to live in.
He finds cottages have been built almost invariably in hollows, with a consequence that the water sup
ply is contaminated. He has astonished some tenants by filling up ponds adjacent to their houses, because of the undesirable insect life which these ponds breed and foster.
Now comes another phase. The remuneration paid to labourers does not constitute a living wage in his opinion ; he has raised those wages several shillings per week, and he demands in return that his men shall work all the time and not intermittently, as he finds by the present rule they are too lethargic, but he thinks better food and improved conditions will alter this.
He has formed the opinion that, with all the fresh air, labourers' children are not so healthy as the child even of the London slums ; they do not get the nourishment, and they live even in worse hovels. He is trying as far as he can to alter this.
The animals, too, the cows and the pigs, are always to have clean water to drink. That is a point deplorably neglected, according to Mr. Edge. No wonder there is so much tuberculosis. His pigs have troughs which are too high for them to trample into, and 'their food will be kept cleaner. And why should riot cows be groomed, much the same as horses? The cow-houses and the piggeries are made cleanly on this estate.
Another point which interested Mr. Edge's hearers was that the animals also, in return, have to give a good saccount of • themselves. Daily results have to be tabulated. If a cow is not giving the proper amount of milk, she is retired from the business, and not kept dragging along. • She finds a fresh owner, or joins the majority, as may be decided. Pigs must put on weightregularly and systematically, or they are dealt with in the same rigorous manner. The hens. too, have to show a like standard of efficiency: their laying abilities are supervised, and the idlers are eliminated.
In fine, it is clear that Mr. Edge
is bringing an acute mind, unhampered by tradition, to this dairyfarming question. Further, he has some excellent assistance on. the estate to carry out his ideas, and there seems little doubt he will succeed. We can quite imagine that his methods will cause much shaking of local heads, but sooner or later they will realize that he is on right lines. One neighbour asked Mr. Edge if he could tell the weight of beasts by looking over them, as farmers are wont to do. " No," retorted Mr. Edge, " I shan't try ; I can buy scales for that purpose."
Awards from the 1911 Turin Exhibition Just to Hand.
" Better late than never but when a prize is awarded it is as well if you get it before you have forgotten all about it. One constantly reads records in the daily papers of old soldiers receiving in the present year of grace medals for service in the Crimea : I saw one myself the other day. So on that basis the issuing of the certificates awarded in connection with the Turin Exhibition of 1911 is comparatively swift. Two diplomas have been awarded to the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., for their exhibits at the Turin International Exhibition and one of these is a gorgeous picture such as one would expect. from artistic ltaly. I was hoping to get the Editor to reproduce the one in question, but through some misapprehension the photograph has not reached us in time.
An Interesting Balance Sheet from Bradbury's.
A motor concern on which I always keep a friendly eye is Bradbury and Co., Ltd., of Oldham. In submitting its balance sheet. for the year ended 30th June, it announces a profit of £7327 2s. 7d. Debenture interest, paid 31st De-. ember, 1912, absorbs E1911 19s. 4d. The directors recommend payment of 10 per cent. on the preference shares, amounting to £2500. and 5 per cent. on the ordinary shares, for the half year ended 30th June, Ze31 lls., leaving a balance carried forward of Z2253 12s. 3d.
It will be remembered that when the directors took over the business of the company from the Receiver on 1st January. 1913, the debenture holders were paid out in full with interest for the six months. This, with the law costs, etc., necessitated by the reconstruction of the company amounted to £90,000. The law costs, etc., were 3000, the whole of which has been charged to the trade account. The new capital brought in was £50,000 in 10 per cent. preference shares. cl