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Power Farming Gives New dity to Durham Agriculture

26th December 1941
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Page 26, 26th December 1941 — Power Farming Gives New dity to Durham Agriculture
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

INDUSTRY, which brought not a few benefits to County Durham, cancelled out many of them by its reactions to agriculture. But, aided by modern farming machinery. Durham has staged a come-back and is now playing its part in the effort to grow more food at least as efficiently as any other county. The land is back to the position it occupied in the days before the Repeal Of the Corn Laws and the advance of mining.

Out of a total area of 633,000 acres there are, at present, about 190,000 acres of amble land, as compared with 126,000 pre-war and 154.000 for the 1939-40 period. Out of the arable area practically an eleventh is devoted to potatoes. Apart from thousands of acres of grassland that have been ploughed up, other large tracts—once fox coverts and the like—are now bearing good crops.

Although drastic measures have been necessary to deal with these long-neglected places, two years' crops will be sufficient to put them on a paying basis. Their state was the nearest thing to impenetrable jungle that one could .expect to see in England, writes a " C.M." staff representative, but with the aid of the 75 h.p. Fowler-engined Gyrotiller these derelict harbours of vermin have been turned into good farming land.

The work has been done under the direction Of Mr. J.: W, Cassels, O.B.E., B.Sc. (Agric.), Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. P. 11. Steele, Machinery and Derelict Land Officer. Among other things, they have also provided gang labour to assist farmers and transport to take men to their jobs. In addition, they have carried out many cultivation zonfracts, taken threshing machines high into the dales with the aid of tractors, to places where it had 'previously been impossible to give such services, and have trained tractor drivers for adjacent counties.

At the Qutset the Durham War Agricultural Executive Committee faced difficulties engendered by long neglect on the part of many landowners Who lacked agricultural consciousness. The task was more than a matter of clearing bracken or heather; it was a question of tackling jungles of undergrowth and -whin bushes, oftltimes studded with tall trees and undermined by catacombs of rabbit burrows.

During the 1914-18 war attempts were made to deal with such tracts,

• but the machinery available was not up to the required standard. This • time: matters were different, and a typical example was noted at Garmondsway, near Coshoe, where the Committee has performed the breaking-up on behalf of the landlord. Here, many trees and roots were dragged out bodily with the aid of the Gyrotiller, the undergrowth was cut and burnt, the ground being gyrotilled after clearance. It now bears a .crop of rape, mustard and turnips, which will be ploughed-in and followed by grain.

Similar schemes are now in progress at other points and. in some cases, several areas of land have been merged into a more economical unit, hedges being uprooted and ditches • ironed .out. Side by side can be seen the finished job and parts yet untouched, the latter, in many instances, being literally. impenetrable, except by assault by crawler tractor.

As the extent of this transformation is difficult to credit, a colour film ha S been prepared showing the original state of some schemes, the work in progress and the position. after its completion—certainly a sound idea. Work has been done on vaiious sites from 40 to 100 acres in extent, and by next April practically 2,000 such. acres will be productive instead of derelict. Further prospects are being investigated and more big plans will, in the near future, undoubtedly see the light of day.

With all this work the Gyrotiller (engaged from Land Cultivators, Ltd., York) is kept in fairly regular commission, and during those periods when it is not wanted by the W.A.E.C. it can usually land interim duty elsewhere in the county, .

The Durham Committee now has a fleet of 70 tractors (including 58 Fordsons, four small row-crop Farmalls, four International Farmalls, and two International W6 models), which are worked by their own drivers. The first year's operations comprised about 600 cultivation contracts for farmers in the county and the second year,up to September, 1941, 1,620 contracts. From September last up to the present time. no fewer than 720 contracts have been entered into and completed.

All work on corporation sites and housi,ng estates is performed for the authorities by the county machinery section, whilst, in addition, the department has been responsible for cutting some 5,300 acres of grain.

Although it does not solicit work, the county organization is ready to .perform every possible operation, from ploughing to threshing, whilst, as a sideline, it runs a training

for drivers, at which men .from other areas can receive tuition. The Committee's tractor drivers are under the control of four tractor foremen, who inspect the land and arrange the contracts. The foremen, in turn, are responsible to two assistant officers, whose duty is to allot the work to be undertaken in each area. The whole mechanical side of the undertaking is under the control of Mr, .Steele.

Tractor foremen go straight out on the job each day, visiting the drivers under their control and returning for consultation at the office towards the end of the afternoon. Every driver is visited daily, so that difficulties of any kind can receive attention with the minimum of delay. • Every effort is made to keep men on jobs near where •• they reside, but these employees have to accept the responsibility for getting to their work, wherever it may be. Their instructions are that they shall plough fields in the way the tenant or owner wishes, eiVen if it be not in accordance with their own ideas, and, when the Machine leaves, the farmer signs a note to say that the contract has been completed to his satisfaction_ Whenever a man needs petrol or tractor vaporizing oil he sends in a post card, stating his resluirements, and a service wagon is sent out to him to top up his fuel trailer. 4 Mr. Steele believes—and the bulk of tractor operators will undoubtedly agree—that a great deal of harm is being done to machines in this country owing to restricted petrol supplies resulting in operators switching over too soon from petrol to vaporizing oil. In consequence, any saving in petrol that the authorities have achieved is more than counterbalanced by depreciation on tractors, probably followed by excessive use of fuel. In order to produce accurate figures in respect of petrol requirements and other important statistics; the Durham W.A.E.C. is running special tests over an area" of 100 acres.

▪ Among things that are conspicuous by their absence in Durham are W.A.E.C. machines standing about in the

open. In order that depreciation shall be minimized every, •spare tractor and implement is kept under a roof and constant attention is paid to the question of maintenance. Repair work is performed at a central depot and, if necessary, lorries are sent out to bring in tractors for attention. Where repairs are beyond the scope of the

• drivers themselves, but do necessitate recall, the machines can receive attention in the field from two mechanics who • travel around in vans.

A spare tractor is always kept in readiness to take the place of one that happens to encounter trouble. New tractors have half-a-day's running at the yard before being sent out for duty in the field and every tractor or implement is tested before use, so as to ensure that it is in good .order. • A26

Whenever a machine is taken out of service it is greased and adjusted before being put into storage. The mechanics keep a record card for each tractor that they maintain. Thig "medical chart" is inspected by the Machinery Officer and if, in this opinion, the unit .„be giving undue trouble he may decide that there is more wrong with it than can be corrected ir_ the field, in which case he will give instructions for its return to the depot for complete overhaul.

Men are not taken from other agricultural work in order to become tractor drivers, but useful acquisitions have been made from the ranks of drivers previously employed at such places as timber estates. Women land workers have also been trained as tractor drivers, whilst .gang labourers have been given tuition, so that they can handle a machine at times of extra pressure.

Like so many road-transport operators, the Durliatu W.A.E.C. has adopted the principle that a man develops pride of ownership by sticking to his own machine. Each man is made responsible for his own particular unit and, If reasonably convenient, his outfit goes with him even if he moves to do a series of jobs at the other end of the county.

An important feature of the work is the supply of labour to farmers requiring supplementary assistance. About 100 men are employed in the county gangs, and they are housed in special landworkers' hostels; four covered wagons and four vans are available for their transport. Farmers will ring up during the afternoon to headquarters stating their requirements, the labour department telephones instructions to the various hostels and the men are on the job in the morning.

Certain members of the labour gangs have been taught to drive, and at every hostel there is a wagon and driver. It will set out in the Morning, carrying the men with their tools and food for the -slay-, dropping small parties at various farms as the outward journey progresses. When the vehicle reaches its final point, the driver joins the gang and spends his da; on agricultural work. At the end of the day the process is reversed, all gang workers being 'picked up and taken back to their lodgings. •

Apart from directly assisting members of the agricultural community in various ways, the Committee has taken over approximately 90 farms that were not up to standard. Many of these have been let to better farmers, but several of them are being handled entirely by the. Committee. The latter comprise the worst holdings, in connection with which the expense of reclamation would be too great for the ordinary individual to undertake.

One difficult case concerned Brawn's Den Farm and South Brandon Farm at Brancepeth, where the Committee took over an area of 259 acres in extremely poor condition. For a start, samples of the soil had to be analysed, so as to ascertain its probable value. The likelihood of satisfactory results being clear, reclamation work was commenced, much of the ground having to be cleared of undergrowth and bushes. Among the crops planted were 150 acres of oats, 19 acres of potatoes, 14 acres of rape, 15 acres of grass, with 28 acres reseeded as pasture. Included in the fertilizers used was lime which was previously regarded as waste material; quarry owners in the county have screened small chippings and the fine slime remaining has, been purchased for use as a fertilizer at the notably low figure of 6s. a ton.

Other outstanding schemes include Whinney Moor and Red Gap, where the Gyrotiller has done good work, and Grange Farm, Bislamston.

Among the notable efforts of this organization are tile operation of the four threshing machines, which are worked by the W.A.E.C. staff. These machines have been taken high into the hills, where such units have never previously been available. Tractors were used for hauling them and, in some instances, it has been necessary to have two such machines, one to tow and the other at the rear to give added control on hills. Some 10 threshing machines are hired to contractors, whilst ploughs, potato-lifters, harrows, disc harrows, and °thee implements are also hired out.

Recently added to the Committee's own equipment is a Badger Ditching Machine by Bomford and Evershed, Ltd., of Salford Priors, Evesham. These machines, which are pulled by crawler tractors, are likely to prove an important feature of W.A.E.C. operations in many parts of the country, as they are being widely distributed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisharies. This .ingenious ditcher needs a crew of only. two, the tractor driver and a mato who walks behind, so as to steer the machine independently when necessary on corners or in difficult

places. The Badger is stated to do the work of 15 or 20 men and to maintain-existing ditches to the depth of 5 ft., or to cut new lines. The outfit can be folded up in 10 minutes for transport from site to site.

When at work the tractor draws the machine forward until the bucket (holding 24-3 cubic it.) is full, then, by pulling a lever, the driver alters the angle of the bucket which rides clear. By operating a second lever the machine is left standing exactly where the bucket has ceased digging. The bucket is then automatically lifted and the spoil tipped on a tray which empties it on the far side of the machine at the same time as the bucket returns to the digging position. Where it is desired to build up a bank the tray is removed and the spoil discharged at the edge of the ditch.

Consequent upon the call for more food and the recent strides in agricultural engineering. Durham has lauuched out on many schemes that previoasly would have been thought impracticable, In numerous instances, exceptionally good use has been made of the Gyrotiller which virtually makes farms bigger by quickly eliminating obstructive growths. The Durham W.A.E.C. has not been afraid to undertake pioneer work in various branches and a survey shows that results will more than bear comparison with those achieved in other parts of the country.


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