Economic Use of the Agrimotor Dependent on Skilled Attention.
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ON every hand extended use is being made of the agrimotor for the reason that farmers are experiencing difficulty in gettingtheir arable work carried out effectively without power appliances. Even, however, with the noticeable increase in the employment of the agrimotor during the past. two or three' years it is open to question whether farmers use it adequately-. or in sufficient numbers, and we often wonder what is the reason. It cannot be the' price, for this usually comes much below that of a team of horses, whilst in the actual work the agrimotor IS .much more efficient. • We have, discussed this _point. recently with several farmers and a number of tractor and agricultural-implement concerns, and whilst each answer to the query Varied in' detail, all agreed on one particular point. The .agrimotor is not generally regarded as an expensive appliance from the point' of .view of capital outla3,, neither is its power of efficiency doubted, but' the bugbear is to be found in trouble caused by the treatment of the machine in its early days —farm men are not yet trained sufficiently in the handling of the agrimotor to be able to use it in an economical way. The trouble comes about in this way : a farmer buys an agrimotor and, with insufficient experience, either takes charge of It himself or places it in the hands of one of his men. It is set to work and ploughs 10 to 20 acres, or perhaps successfully carries through the ploughing of 50 Or more acres. While this work i being done the engine and other important parts are not properly oiled, nor is the agrimotor .cared, for while at work in the way that it should be, with the result that, at the end of the job it is necessary to spend £5 Or' even £10 on repairs. That is the trouble, and it is due in no way to the Agrimotor, hut to the farmer himself. although he may feel that he is the aggrieved party. Years ago we pointed out the need for the employment of skilled men. With the agrimotor, somehow, the farmer does not seem inclined to pay that extra wage Which the first-class man would require, and he is, as a consequence, still without a good machinery man on the farm, yet the agrimotor engineer is more important on a modern farm than the waggoner was on farms 25 years ago. Using a Vehicle for Private Purposes: The Legal Aspect: mANY owners of commercial vehicles desire to use them for dual purposes, such as the carrying of goods and passengers, and to enable them to do so it is essential that the vehicle be licensed in the higher of the two categories in which it becomes included, on the principle that the greater contains the lesser. 'This, of course, does not imply that the vehicle can be used for public service or for plying for hire without the appropriate plates, but it permits a limited number of fare-paying passengers to be carried, the number depending upon the amount of duty paid. There is, however, one important point which must be carefully considered. A vehicle used for dual purposes would probably not be suitable for carrying more than a comparatively small number of persons, but its horse-power might well be 20 or more. Now, if such a vehicle weighs not more than 1 ton and is licensed at £15 per annum, it would be permitted to carry not more than eight persons; but if it be used to carry any number without charge, i.e., for a private excursion of friends or relatives, then it immediately becomes liable to pay duty on the horse-power basis as a private vehicle, which would increase the correct duty payable from 115 to over £20, its use at the lower rate thus constituting an offence under the Roads Att. That it would not be permissible actually to license such a vehicle on the horse-power basis is a point that does not affect the matter.
A Point to Watch When Buying Second-hand Vehicles.
A CERTAIN amount of the value of a second-Li-hand vehicle lies in the unexpired life of its licence, and with very cheap machines this amount may represent quite a considerable proportion of the capital expenditure. It is, however, important to make certain that the remaining portion of the licence is actually in force, for although the registration book may show the vehicle to be licensed even to the end of the year, it is quite possible that the licence itself has been surrendered and a refund obtained, although no entry may have been made to that effect in the registration book. In instances which have been brought to our notice it had been stated that the licence discs had been lost, and the new owners when applying to the licensing authorities for the transfer of the licences had asked for replacement discs to be supblied at the cost of a few shillings, only to discover that refunds on the unexpired periods had already been made. The proper procedure which should be adopied by the authorities when making such a repayment would be to make an entry to this effect in the registration book, otherwise this book merely aids the unscrupulous seller to place fictitious values on the vehicles of which he disposes.
An Outlet for Over-produced Fruit.
THE possibilities of, and the advantages afforded by, the use of the mobile shop are manifold, yet this form of sales agency is not being developed so intensely as it might well be. It can be of great advantage to the agriculturist, although he has, generally speaking, given hardly a thought to its usefulness. This year's exceptional crops of soft fruit have made their rapid disposal extremely difficult, because shopkeepers, although they may reduce their prices, cannot stock unlimited amounts of fruit. The sale for such foodstuff .cannot be greatly increased by adopting low prices. It is, therefore, suggested that the light lorry might be turned to greater account in connection with the roadside sale of fruit. This method has the.advantage that the middleman's profit is eliminated, with consequent improved financial results for the farmer. A drop-sided vehicle would, perhaps, be the most suitable, as, when a stand had been chosen, the sides could be lowered to reveal the display of fruit. A simple fabric canopy could also be fixed up in order to shield the commodities from the sun.