A Landmark in Power-farming Progress
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Sixteen Papers and Three Addresses at a Big Conference on Mechanization in Mixed Farming, Held Under the Joint Auspices of Three Important Bodies A CONFERENCE on mechanization in mixed farming is being held at Oxford, under the joint auspices of the School of Rural Economy, the Institute for Research in. Agricultural Engineering, and the Agricultural Economics
Research Institute, University of Oxford. The opening address was given on Wednesday morning by Professor J, A. S. Watson, M.A., Professor of Rural Economy. There were 16 papers and three addresses. Many of the papers dealt with technical agricultural matters bearing upon mechanization, but several were of a definite power-farming character. It should be noted that . the papers were all concerned with mechanization in mixed farming, which is quite different from specialist mechanization.
The introductory paper, entitled "" Specialized versus Mixed Farming," was read by Mr. A. Bridges, of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute, As regards mixed farming, he said that full mechanization of grain growing had been adopted and all 'classes of stock carried without any conflict of interests, on farms large enough to utilize mechanized equipment to the full and, at the same time, to provide sufficient land for the needs of the stock.
Points to Consider in Full Mechanization.
For the majority of English arable farms, ranging from 300 acres to 500 acres in size, full meChanizalion would imply specialization, at the sacrifice of one or more forms of livestock, because the farms are not large enough economically to hold all forms of enterprise. The mixed arable farmer who considers the application of full mechanization must keep in mind the needs of his stock for home-grown fodder.
The specialist grain-growing farms at present were condarting extremely interesting and valuable practical experiments. The system was still on trial and adjustments were necessary. Already some of them were moving to a greater( diversification of production, but not on the lines of the old mixed-farming idea, which went to the extreme in di eersity.
By full mechanization is meant the use of tractor power for all tillage and harvesting operations, the employment of the combine for harvesting grain and the use of the dryer.
• Referring to capital, Mr. Bridges said that the specialist grain farmer has to find only the capital involved in the purcnase of tractors, .implements, combine and dryer, and some transport equipment, amounting altogether to RA or per acre. The mixed mechanized farmer requires this sum and a like amount for livestock and its equipment. On the question of rotations, Dr. H. G. Sanders said that if the fundamental principles of rotations were understood, mixed farming, he felt sure, would take mechanization in its stride.
Wider Scope in Power Farming Needed.
Mr. Dunstan Skilbeck, in his paper, appealed for the widening of the scope of mechanized farming. From the national standpoint, be said, prosperous agriculture was desired by every section of the community, but that could not be achieved so long as much of the arable laud of the country was being only half farmed or being farmed at a loss.
This land was capable of yielding profits again, but needed to he re-equipped with new enterprise and capital. The old mixed farm had almost ceased to be an economic system of' husbandry. The new arable farm-:–designed so far as possible on the principle of "" one man, one job " and with maChinety wisely used—will bring back land into its more pthential State of fertility.
Mr:. E D. Wolton, a Norfolk farmer, gave the most
widely interesting paper under the title of.." The Tractor. . on the Small Fartn," dealing in the main with the Miniminn mixed average on which a tractor can be economically employed and the uses to which it can be put.
'The situationlacing all farmers, he said, was that wages were about 100 per cent, above pre-war standards and agricultural prices, as a whole, only about 20 per cent, higher, and corn was even below this figure. The problem was how to grow crops at a much reduced cost and to make each man greatly increase his output. The tractor provided the solution. With it the farmer could so greatly increase the output per man that it was possible to bridge the gulf.
His tractor, he said, ploughs all the land, including opening and shutting furrows; cultivates and breaks down the land for drilling; drills and harrows (or rolls) in one operation; rolls and harrows in one operation ; loads all• hay; draws all full loads to hard road ; draws a binder and so cuts corn ; loads rakings and grinds the corn.
Mr. Wolton's farm comprises 150 acres, 90 acres being arable and 60 acres grass. The same tractor, he Says, could deal with another 50 acres. He considered that the agrimotor was equally advantageous to the small, as to the large, farmer. For the first time in history, he declared, each individual farmer has power available in the same way as has the manufacturer, and, in the same way as power has increased the standard of living in towns, he hoped tha t the advent of power in agriculture would be equally advantageous to the farmer and the farm worker. He believed. that, if farmers could learn how correctly to use the new power, the key to prosperity would 'be found:
Speaking on the subject of row-crop equipment, Mr. J. E. Newman said that this consisted of two main divisions, namely, the tractor and the tools used with it. A tractor for this work should have a short turning radius, high clear
ance, adjustable wheel centres, and narrow wheels. It should also have a considerable range of speed..
Transport on the Land, "Farm Transport," a paper by Mr. J. R. Warburton, au..
Oxfordshire farmer, was limited almost entirely to transport on the land. If, he pointed out, all transport took place over metalled roads, the problem would be easy, but the matter was complicated by the fact that fully 75 per cent. of it was effected over ploughed fields, stubble, or rough farm roads. An approximate calculation brought his haulage to 400 ton-miles per year, which represented solely the haulage of corn, seed and artificial manures. On a farm where roots and hay are grown and straw is used in large quantities, this figure would easily be trebled.
One of the best means -for land transport, in Mr. Warburton's 12 years' experience, is a 4-ton pneurnatic-tyred trailer, with a standard tractor similarly equipped. He added that the track-laying tractor was even better for use' with the trailer.
The 1.-ton or 2-ton petrol-driven lorry was familiar. to all and its advantages and limitations were well known, it was, he maintained, practically essential for the farmer who had milk to deliver over a distance, but it was purely a transport vehicle, although an efficient one. It would cost about the same as a pneumatic-tyred tractor and trailer. The choice of one of the two types would depend -upon whether the farmer's transport requirements were greater than his cultivation requirements.
The speaker also referred to the large Latil four-wheeldrive tractor, which was really a cross between a tractor and a lorry, with the added advantage of having four driving wheels. With its spade lugs, Which could rapidly be throy7i into position. Over pneumatic 'tyres, it could be classed as a "Universal '' tool " for AransPort, cultivation ; or timber hauling.