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The Essential Factor in Profitable Farming THE TRACTOR
Page 96
Page 97
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An Agriculturist Dis cusses the Merits of the Agrimotor and Points to its Growing Use in Many Spheres of Farming.
THE motor tractor probably now occupies a better position than ever before in British agriculture. Not that machines are being turned out by the thousand from the factories, but the demand is steady and, what is much more important, many of the machines on the market are highly efficient. The future of the farm tractor is considerable, and the fact that certain concerns think it worth while introducing new makes and new models indicates the direction in which the tendency lies.
Each year sees the horse declining in numbers--there is a reduction of over 30,000 again this year—which means that in a short time the main agricultural work will be carried out by tractor and motor lorry. Indeed, there is scarcely an alternative.
No farmer can afford to be without a tractor, no matter how much he may try. To do so is to place himself amongst those who a r e struggling, those whose work is never done and whose farm', operations are too much behind the times for them to be profitable. The agricultural industry to-day moves much too fast for success to reach the laggard.
In saying this, I. have no axe to grind on behalf of the tractor, but experience in farming with and without the tractor teaches me that there is a great difference between the tractor-farmed and the horse-farmed holding.
One of the ways in which prosperous farmers meet their suc cesses is by overcoming without difficulty or prohibitive cost some of the obstacles which, in former times, made farming such an uncertainty. One of the biggest troubles is the variability of the weather.
Under horse-farming conditions the task of dodging the weather is almost impossible. Now the farmer has two important aids, the one being the weather forecasts broadcast by the B.B.C., whilst the other is the tractor, which enables him to make the best of any weather at any time when important operations such as harvesting, seed-sowing, cultivation or ploughing have to be effected.
Sugar beet growing has had a great deal to do with the recent advance of the tractor. Deep cultivations are an absolute necessity and nothing less than a good crop will pay. Sugar beet must either be well grown or not grown at all. The deep tillages necessary are quite impossible with horse-power alone, for even where horses do the work the job is far too slow to allow the smallest margin of profit. Imagine in these go-ahead days a team of three or four horses slowly moving up and down the field, turning over one furrow at a time. The thought is preposterous.
The value of, the tractor has been emphasized not only in the cultivation of the beet crop, and farmers Tealize that if deep tillage be necessary for this crop it is also valuable for others. All crops pro ce better results when the soil and the upper subsoil are deeply stirred.
Looking back over a few years, I remember the censure that was levelled against the tractor by farmers and labourers. It is amusing now to find so much praise for it from both parties. Undoubtedly, there were a great many worthless machines placed on the market immediately after the war, and the amount of scrap iron on farm premises is, in many instances, sufficient proof of the disappointment which the machines caused. The effect, however, is fast dying out, thanks to the workmanship and the skill of manufacture put into the machines which are nowadays produced.
On every hand farmers are of the opinion that tractors are splendidly constructed and that they are handy and economical to use. The old objections, such as expensive repairs, the inability to make an adequate turn on the headland and padding, have disappeared. The tractor can turn in a smaller space than can a team of horses and the
former casts rather less to operate.
As for padding, that was always a delusion. We may allow that a tractor pads as much as a team of horses—although, actually, this is not the case—and there is still the fact that a hard pan at the depth of ploughing is not so easily formed, because, as the tractor effects a deeper furrow, it breaks through any pan which tends to form.
The tractors which are most suitable for use in this country may be roughly divided into two classes— (1) -the bigger and heavier type for ordinary farming and (2) the smallproportioned, low-built machine used in market gard6ns and fruit plantations.. The small-garden machine is another type for which there is a certain amount of scope. In this class is included the Simar Roto
tiller, the Auto-Quito and the Monotrac.
The amount of effort backing the recently introduced Rushton tractor indicates confidence in the industry, which the writer, for one, does not consider misplaced. The Rushton, which was described in our issue dated April 30th, is a well-built, Powerful machine, the present model being designed to meet the requirements of the farmer with a large holding. In its preserit form it is too tall and big for fruit, hop and market-garden work.
The Fordson 30 h.p. model will do much towards providing a really useful tractor. This machine has, in many cases, been adapted to meet conditions of working which involve limited space and has been found to be most useful.
Another machine of this type is the small Austin made in France and handled in this country by Messrs. Drake and Yletcher, of Maidstone, Kent. The prime object in the design of this machine is to work in the vineyards of France.
Three well known tractors are the International, the Wallis and the Case. The International is one of the most reliable tractors. It was introduced into this country soon after the war by the International Harves ter Co., of Great Britain, Ltd., as a lighter and more serviceable machine for conditions here. It succeeded the Titan, which was a much heavier appliance previously marketed by that concern.
The Wallis is a well-known machine introduced from America, the manufacture of an English model, the British Wallis, being undertaken by Ruston and Hornsby, Ltd., of Lincoln. This, however, was given up after a few years. There is still a number of the British Wallis models on the market, but the present machine is the American model handled by MasseyHarris, Ltd.
In regard to the Case, this is a highly satisfactory tractor, being durable, reliable and economical, although it is in the expensive class. The Latil, too, comes into this category. It is a splendid machine, especially as by its peculiar spud arrangements, which may be fitted ' over pneumatic tyres, it can haul a full load off the land and convey 10 tons along the road at 15-16 m.p.h. It is ene of the most useful of tractors for employment in the culture of sugar beet.
The last machine to be mentioned here is the Lanz from Germany, which is designed to work on crude oil. Fuel costs only 6d. per acre, whilst the all-in cost of ploughing amounts to approximately 5s. per acre. This should appeal to farmers who practise strict economy.