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ECONOMIZING ON THE TILLAGE BILL.

11th January 1921
Page 29
Page 30
Page 29, 11th January 1921 — ECONOMIZING ON THE TILLAGE BILL.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

How the Agrimotor can Help the Farmer in the Present Economic Situation.

IUNDERSTAND that trade in the agrimotor industry has net been very good during the past month. This is no matter for surprise, because winter is a time of the year when the farmer is disinclined to the introduction of new and expensive land machinery. Apart from this, of course, at the present juncture farmers are anticipating a fall in. prices, and, as a consequence, are reluctant to place orders. Whether there will be any -substantial reduction this .spring is very doubtful,' and, personally, I should not be inclined to risk my work on the farm for the sake of possible future falls in prices, thereby involving a further risk of losing more on my crops than I gained through my delay by the falling prices of agrimotors.

The fact that manufacturers have had a very-Jame number of inquiries during the past autumn goes to show that fanners are making up their minds, the result of which one may be pretty sure. will be:the decision to invest in an appliance.

-Wages are high, priaes of agricultural produce are falling, many farmers, owing to insecurity of tenure, have had to purchase their farms at enhanced values, all of which points to the absolute necessity for the farmer investing in all the machinery he can to effect economies on the farm in every direction.

To get rid of the major portion of the tillage bill is one of the most effective ways a farmer has of combating the economic difficulties with which he is faoed as a result of the circumstances indicated above, and that is why I have decided to have a word or two with others who are having so much to say about the agrimotor.

There has been a lot said. Toe much of the wrong sort of talk has been going about, but the farmer himself is fully convinced of the utility of the agrimotor. Those farmers who have used the machine tell you that they are perfectly satisfied with it. In the early days, disappointment was suffered owing to the sale of agrimotots that were most im perfect machines,but the farmer his come to realize that he can choose a machine suitable for his requirements and one that will give satisfaction. One is delighted to meet with so much approval, among farmers 'of the performances of the agrimotor throughout the country ; even those who have not employed them are satisfied from what they have seen on their neighbour's farm.

But, as I have pointed out before, the farmer is not a mechanic. He has certainly progressed enormously in this direction since 1914, but he still needs the assistance of the agent and manufacturer in having placed further before him the merits of the agrimotor and of telling him how he can keep it in good running order for the maximum period of time. Especially is it necessary for those who,are interested in the sale of the agrimotor to be able to counteract the unnecessary and undeserving things that are being said about it for reasons that are not quite clear.

The bogey that is continually being put before the farmer is that direct traction is no good on heavy land. I have discussedthis problem previously in these columns and shall discuss it again. We all know that direct traction on heavy land is a much more difficult task than it is on medium and light land, but why certain periodicals should think fit to labour this point before all farmers I do not know. One of the first things a farmer has to do is to make up his mind whether his land is heavy or not, and then.. to decide upon. his agrimotor. Some of the things that I have been reading lately would almost persuade a man that the greater part of the land in the country was heavy, which is by no means the case. Again, there is far too much written in the way of advice to the farmer that is apt to be misleading—and written obviously by amateurs. I think it is time now that the agrimotor was treated by the agricultural Press in the same thorough manner a-s is done with horses and cattle, fruit, corn, and so on. There is altogether to much loose talk about the machine, and I am not so sure that some of the glowing dissertations that I have been reading in regard to it are all to the goad.

There is a great deal in what Mr. S. F. Edge has already pointed out—that there should always be semething up one's sleeve.. It is a mistake to claim far the agrimotor the maximum that it will do, or to give the impression that it is such an easy thing to work that all one has to do is to take it to the field and leave it there to get on with the job. I know that an agrimotor is easier to manage than a team of horses; I know that it is less expensive' but I also know that it needs experienced handling to effect these savings, and that, as yet, experienced operators have to be "taught.

I think perhaps one of the worst cases of agrimotor treatment is to be found in the new edition of the Standard Encyclopmdia of Modern Agriculture, which has just been issued. Although it is sold as a book dealing with agriculture up to date, the article on agricultural motors deals with nothing later than the " Marshall" agricultural oil motor and the " Ivel " agricultural motor, the same account and illustrations of which appeared when the first edition of the book Was issued in j908. The only other description given is that of the General. agricultural'. tractor, made by the Cyclone Agricultural Tractor Co., Ltd., and awarded a silver, medal at the Royal Show held at Gloucester in 1909. The article concludes as follows ee-" Great strides have recently been made in the manufacture of agricultural motors, and more or less successful attempts have been made to attach motors directly on to motor ploughs, rollers, reapers, etc. The cost, however, still remains somewhat prohibitive to the average 'farmer."

Those remarks may have been true in 1009, but to put them before the agricultural public as holding good in 1920 or 1921 is not helping the farmer. I can only express the hope that farmers will take care to get thelatest. and fullest information when going into the question of the purchase of a power plant.

In these columns it has always been the object of the writer to face the facts of the position all the time, and while it is sometimen necessary to chat with farmers as by the fireside, over little matters concerning the agrimotor, at the same time the bigger issues—the question of cost, the practical application of the agrimotor to the land, the various operations that could be performed, and even the constructional details of the tractors—have not been neglected.

In conclusion I revert to what I said at the beginning of the article, that, judging by information which I have received as to the large inquiries that have been made during the past few months, farmers are really thinking seriously about the matter, and it is now a question of those Concerned all round, both as purchaser and soller, to see that the right article is secured. AGRIMOT.

Tags

People: S. F. Edge
Locations: Gloucester

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