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Opinions from Others.

1st February 1917
Page 22
Page 22, 1st February 1917 — Opinions from Others.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Editor Invites orrespondence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on one sloe of the paper only and typewritten by preterence. The right ot abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibtlity for views expressed _is accepted.

Applying an Advertised Test to a Sparking Plug. The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

[1415] Sir,—In reply to the letter signed__ "Plug User" (No. 1411) appearing in your issue of the 25th ult., we would first say that the statement contained in our• advertisement, to which your correspondent refers, viz., that "every insulator is tested by heating to a white •heat and then suddenly plunged into cold water," should clearly have read ".sample insulators," as it would be obviously impossible tor us to apply this test to every insulator we make.

Further, that as a general test of the Forward Steatite insulators, this is invariably successful, but not, of course, if applied as your correspondent appears to have applied it, viz., to the complete plug.— Yours faithfully,

For THE FORWARD MOTOR CO., The Era of the Agrimotor : An Attack on the Cable System, and on the Specification of "One Implement, One Operation."

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

[1416] have now studied the " Agrimotor "

supplement to your issue of the .29th June lase and I wish to express my thanks for its Please pardon my erroneous allusion to the slothfulness of your estimable journal regarding agrimotors, for your interesting supplement gives the lie to such a statement. In your summary on cable v. tractor ploughing, you have struck a very happy strain, which I am afraid is more than offset by the two articles, built on personal interviews with two distinctly different opinionated gentlemen. I refer to Mr.. J. Allen and Mr. III. G.

Patterson.

The deductions which I make after it careful survey of these articles are simply further. evidence that the manufacturer's standpoint is determined on the dollar equation—a capital investment. There can be no question of the value of steam as a hauling power, within prescribed limits, the reserve held by the steam engine being a decisive factor in prescribing those limits. You do not use a 60 h.p. engine for a 20 h.p. job, and that is just what is done the cable way. The initial outlay on a cable Plowing outfit is most certainly prohibitive, and the subsequent cost of running two engines of -equal power, especially with regard to labour, and not taking into account depreciation, etc., must make such plowing very costly. I can think of nothing more aggravating to the manufacturer than the fact that half his machinery must he idle while the other half .carries on: Overhead expenses would ruin any manufacturer -who ever tried to run his factory on those lines, •and still the farmer has such methods designed to heIn run his highly-specialized industry economically. It is enough to make one laugh: Leaving the cable plow, and taking Mr. Allen's. comparisons with Canada and the U.d.A., theie is a challenge in this, and it looks-like Government statis. tics, which are scarcely ever reliable. Knowing the methods practised in the collection of them, I have no hesitation in saying that. Canadian statistics: should not be quoted whenmaking comparisons. I Will enlarge on this point, to show how they mislead, although 1 do not challenge 'the-statement regarding the difference in yield per acre. •

First of all, we practise to a great extent a method of farming called dry• farming, which simply consists'

• of conserving the moisture in the soil from one seasotito the other. This method is essentially one for the power farmer for several reasons. When plowing,the soil shoulrfiever be allowed to remain in clods, but .should be immediately packed and harrowed to destroy the air spaces and form the conserving mulch. The power farmer does the three operations at once, each implement doing its work, as it necessarily should do, on the freshly-turned earth. It is quite evident that it is impossible for the horse farmer to do this, and his method is the old one—one Rib at a time. By the time his plowing is done, his land is dried out, and the subsequent packing and harrowing have lost their value. His work is also slipshod, rough and ready, and a primary cause of the small average yield. He tries extensive farming with implements and power designed for intensive farming, but it will be found that the motior farmer is the man who keeps the grain yield to its present fair average. Hence, the very method Mr. .Allen decries is the one which obtains the most favour with the scientific dry farmer. To the many favourable points, let us add the fact that he is able to plow much deeper than with horses, feed stops with work and pasture land

is superfluous. Loss of power from sickness is a purely mechanical ailment, easily cured by the mechanic, and he can work from sun to sun, should it be necessary. ,

To ta-ke the small utility tractor, such as the Bull tractor, with which I have more than a passing ac-, quaintance in happier circumstances, it is possible to do all one's plowing at. the rate of eight acres every twelve hours,. leaving the light work of cultivating and harrowing to horseflesh, hut I have found thesemachines do equally good work on plowed land as on . stubble without doing injury to the land from packing. I might suggest that the farmer often sees beneficent results from this packing of his land to a certain degree, but 1 admib. it is unwise to use a heavy tractor for this work, unless all the operations are carried out at one time. . This for reasons of sound working as Well as expense. The crux of the whole matter is the saving of tune: and labour, the getting through the day's work with a minimum of exertion with the maximum results, and the tendency to keep interest from 'flagging in . the coming generations of farmers. There are other arguments, such as the inclusion in the curriculum of presentsday schools of this national question, and the consequent quickening of interest in the science of farming, which suffers now from the decadent in of the "what's good enough for father is good enough for me " style of endeavour, We require education in "the motor way." Trusting I do not tax your space beyond its limits, I am yours faithfully,

W. H.. ROBERTS.

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People: J. Allen

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