AGRIMOTOR NOTES.
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Who Selects and Who Orders ?—All Purposes v. Single Units—Weight to Power— Government Ploughing in South Wales—Alldays Agrimotor on the Market.
Who Selects and Who Orders ?
IT IS NO EASY matter to select from among a large number of types of agrimotor, many of them comparatively untried, those which are really best suited to the various conditions obtaining in different parts of the country. One cannot be surprised if, in some instances' the results obtained are not as good as they should have been, for the reason that the machines chosen arc not well fitted for use in view of local conditions. Such mistakes, though occasionally excusable, should not occur often, and it is clear enough that many of our readers feel that somebody ought to be blamed for having failed to show a proper appreciation of the qualities of different agrimotora in relation to the circumstances under which they must work.
It is just as well that those who are interested in this matter should have a. clear idea as to where the responsibility lies, whether they require this knowledge for the purpose of praising, the Government for its astute prevision, or, on the other hand, of blaming it on the grounds of stupidity or prejudice. The supply of agrimotors and of their fuel, as well as of other agricultural implements, so far as it is undertaken by the Government, is‘ entirely in the hands of the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture. This Department must not be confused with the Agricultural Machinery Department of the Ministry of Munitions. The functions of the latter are quite different, and are, in a sense, more limited. When the Food Production Department has decided what. is wanted, it informs the Agricultural Machinery Department of its requirements, and the latter then places the orders according to its instructions. If it is told that a thousanel tractors of a certain make are required, it has no option but to order those agrimotors. It may conceivably express polite doubts as to their suitability or as to the adequacy of the fuel supplies provided for them, but its prime duty is to see that, when the Food Production Department has decided what is wanted, the prescribed stuff id ordered and delivered. Beyond this, the Agricultural Machinery Department gives general assistance to manufacturers in connection with their orders, whether Government or private, and issues permits to them. It also controls imports and exports. Tto point is that it is the purchasing Department, and is not concerned with selection, and this latter falls entirelyto the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture.
All Purposes v. Single Units.
Some tangible idea of the features of design which an agrimotor intended for service under British conditions should possess was unfolded by Mr. H. P. Saunderson before the last meeting of the Scottish Centre of the Institution of Automobile Engineers. As Mr. T. C. Pullinger, the chairman, pointed out, Mr. Saunderson holds a somewhat unusual position. in relation to this issue. He is not only identified with the design and production of the well-known British culti-tractor hailing from Bedford, but for years past has been a successful farmer. Consequently, the Saunderson agrimotor is replete with the features which practical experience has dictated to the designer as being_imperative. Mr. Saunderson plumped for the four-wheeled machine, this being best adapted for working the various and many agricultural implements incidental to the modern farm, since, obviously, a farmer cannot be expected to purchase a special machine for each specific duty. The one exception to this golden rule was the power-driven plough, which, in the lecturer's opinion, might be profitably regarded as a separate unit, seeing that ploughing represents the heaviest duty on a farm.
Weight to Power. •
What should be the proportion of weight to power
• On this point some illuminating information was vouchsafed. In the case of the general all-purposes or universal machine the weight should be, 'approximately, 2 cwt. per engine b.h.p., or 4 cwt. per drawbar horse-power. The back axle should carry about '70 per cent, of the total weight, but, as Mr. &under
• son was careful to point out, the distribution of the weight on the various wheels might be appreciably governed by other construetional details. Another fact was driven home : This is the necessity for the farmer to be possessed of a culti-motor of ample power for any work he is likely to be called upon to fulfil. Certainly no farmer would consider for a moment the prospect of working his land with insufficient horses. Accordingly, he should regard his .mechanical power in a, similar light, that is, to ere rather on the side of too much rather than too little. He is able to determine how many horses the nature of his land demands, and, pressing the self-same knowledge into effect, he should find no greater difficulty in solving the mechanical horse-power which will be necessary to fulfil comparative work.
Government Ploughing hi South Wales.
Ploughing under the Government scheme in the Swansea district has revealed one or two interesting points, which tend to emphasize the fact, strenuously 'maintained in certain circles, that each district demands its peculiar agrimotor, i.e., one which has been designed to comply with local conditions. The machines have been praced at the disposal of the farmers at a very low rental-17s. 9d. per acre ploughed—the majority being of 25 h.p. In this part of the country the predilection is for a machine of such overall width as to be able to pass through a 6 ft. gate, which is customary to the district. Inconvenience has been caused by sending some American tractors requiring a gate over the foregoing width, with the result that the farmer has been called upon to remove his gates and posts. The universal tractor is not in request. Haulage on the road by steam tractor is fa' cheaper, owing to the low price of solid fuel, which is also plentiful and easy to obtain.
Alldays Agrimotor on the Market.
The Alldays and Onions universal or all-purposes agrimotor, which was described fully in TIIE COMMERCIAL MoToa dated 18th October, and which gave a favourable showing in the Scottish Trials, is now being placed on the market. The selling campaign was inaugurated upon the occasion of some private demonstrations held at Washwood Heath, near Birmingham on Tuesday and Wednesday, 20th and 21st November. These trials were followed with intense interest by a select gathering of agriculturists and trade representatives. The possibilities of the machine were convincingly brought out—the behaviour of the culti-tractor on the land a,nd road meeting with very general approval. The opening of the selling• campaign was highly auspicious of the success of this latest British aspirant for recognition in the powerfarming world, a considerable number of orders being placed by private buyers, and the trade, while several agencies were also fixed up. AGRIMOT.