AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
Page 43
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The " Royal " Agricultural Show and Its Value in Educating the Farmer to the Use of Power.
41THE AGRICULTURAL show season may he eald to reach its zenith with the "Royal/' which is now being held at Darlington. It will be, in every respect, a great show. The implements and machinery in motion seations—the part of the ahow which concerns the readers of this journal—will present the greatest gathering together of agricultural machinery and implements= of all kinds that ever takes place at any time in this -country. Always, at the "Royal," there are a large number of new inventions and novelties. in ina,chinery that very, often one never sees, or bears of, again. On the other hand, inventions of the greatest utility have made their first appearance at the "Royal '
show. .
One has, at the lesser shows held this season, searched for things new in the tractor and implement line, but has found but little. Of course the present is the first season that the agricultural show. business has been taken .up in real earnest since 1914, and, by comparing any of the shows which have been held, with those of 1914, great developments are seen_ For instance, in 1914, it was arare thing to see a motor tractor, but, to-day, there is not an agricultural show held, no matter how .small, which has not a few tractors to its credit among the exhibits. The tractor is now an '. established fact and, when I speak of new deielopmente, I am thinking of improvements in cultivating machinery and improvements in the tractor itself, which will tend to make power farming still more practicable and economical.
A large number 'of farmers have purchased. tractors. In the majority, of cases, the machines have given satisfaction and, once a farmer has had a, tractor, he alwa=ys wants on-e. We know there have been 'disappointments; we knew that 80131e of the machines which appeared on the market. a year or two back were doomed to disappear, and those farmers who were unfortunate enough, or, in other, words., were enterprising enough, to launch out alongarew lines, no doubt, suffered to some extent, but the motto with most enterprising farmers has been to try and try and try again. If one .type of tractor hasenot suited thena-they have gone in for another and so on, until they have found one suited to their needs. •
At the shows which have already been held, a good deal of business has been done: Agents and manufacturers have expressed themselves as being well satisfied with the results -of sales even at the-small one-day shows.
Hundreds of farmers will attend the " Royal" for the sole purpose of examining, selecting, and purchasing farm machinery, 'including, tractors. This always occurs, and, of course, those wha attend for other purposes never leave implements out of account. There are, also, among those who attend on other business, a large -number who examine the appliances and form some conclusion as to the machine they are goirtg to have when they purchase in the future, be it six or twelve months, or even two years' tune, so that, altogether, one realizes the educational value of the show, and the possibilities which it provides for the future. At the smaller shows, most of the entries of tractors and tractor implements have been in the hands of agents, as the manufacturera, in order to enable them to get along with their work, have left show business in the hands of their local representatives, they themselves concentrating upon a few important events like the "Royal."
. Most firma still have heavy " forward" contracts, 'but it should be possible for orders to be executed within a reasonable' space of time, and farmers, now, in Placing orders, need not fear undue delay, or disappointment.
-Farmers Should pay a visit to the Machinery department of the "Royal" with a view to having a look 'roundfor something to please them in the motor tractor line, and they will not be disappointed.
As we have pointed out. in this journal before, toe much attention cannot be paid ta the adaptability and special merits of motors and tractors, and the time spent by a farmer in examining models will be well repaid. Anything which helps to enable him, to make up his mind and to eho-ose the right article, is of greatvalue.
Makers.andftheir representatives are, now, much. more acquainted with soil conditions and the variety in soils thanaformeriy, and most tractors have been adapted-,aeither for aeparticular kind of work or a. certain kind of soil in'different parts of the country, or they have been so constructed as to be of general utility on any farm.
At the.time of the opening of the show season, we mentioned thatthe-farmer; before setting out to buy A "tractor,. should be -accivainte& with the nature of his land, the-size of his farm, and the shape and he of his fieldsaso that the tractor chosen shall be the one mostasiated,to the peculiarities of this farm. The manufacturer's, part is to be perfectly honest, and to know as much about the business as he possibly call, sothat, when selling a tractor-to-a, farmer, he has the satistaction.of khowinge that he has disposed of ,a good machine ler a good p, with, the possibility of a repeat order. The agriculturist will not stand humbug and, therefore, strict honesty should govern all, dealings-with him.
There is one point. which I would like to emphasize,
on behalf of the farmer. The motor tractor has opened out great possibilities in the cultivation of the land; in /fact, -it has revolutionized -Modern farming this oauretry, but. the possibilities open up room-forariany developments in the wayof new methods of tilling the land, and I would like to say that such implements as rotary Motor cultivators, or anything like that, which .establish a= break away from Orthodox methods of enitivation, are worth a, good deal of consideration, even though it may not be possible at the moment to give orders for such, implements The possibilities are, none the less, as great in this new method of cultivation as in the power Of the ti-actor itself.
While, at district shows, one or two makes of tractor have predominated, at the " Royal" it. will be, possible to see almost 'everything in the motor
machinery line .Aaanwoa