. Standards Wanted for Light Farm. Tractors T HE development of
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agriculture has a certain affinity with the development of the soil itself. In both cases a start is made at the top, and the work proceeds downwards. This is true both of all developments originating within the industry itself and of those introduced to it from outside, such as the present Government-sponsored campaign tp increase food production. That was naturally directed in the first place at the farmer ; later, the services of the 8thallholder, the marketgrower, and the mere gardener were enlisted_ The history of power farming has followed precisely similar lines; the tractor was beginning to be a necessity of the big man before it became even a possibility for the snall user.
Lately, the stepping-down of tractor usage has • further continued, and at the present time farmers have become seriously interested in the lightest type of machine, in which the driver walks behind or is, possibly, drawn on a trailer seat. Manufacturers both here and abroad had given consider-' able attention to the development of the light tractor for some .few years prior to this war, and the number of machines actually on the market was quite considerable. It has since been reduced only by shoktages of materials and import difficulties.
Light tractors vary in design and construction to a degree that is almost remarkable. The class is an extremely wide one ; perhaps too wide, as its power-range is 1-8 b.h.p. There is a difficulty in this diversity. The average buyer, including even the man with considerabld experience of full-sized tractors, finds himself rather at sea when it comes to choosing one of these small machines. He feels none too certa..in as to what the real capabilities Of various models may prove -to be, or which type is likely.to be best suited to tackling the work that he has in view for it.
Accordingly, it will be to the good if more precise standards can be laid down for light-tractor performance. A series -of practical tests, carried out by some responsible body, should be illuminating in this matttr, and would do something towards ending the perplexities that are nundoubtedly felt by many prospective purchasers.