Vol. XVIII. No. 454. 



THE AGRICULTCTRAL NEWS. 



301 



MECHANICAL TiLLAGB. 



TRACTOR DEMONSTRATION IN 

 BARBADOS. 



A well-attended demonstration of the work done by the 

 Twin City Tractor took place at Bush Hall and Waterford 

 estates on September 9, 1919. Amongst those present were 

 H. E. The Governor of Barbdos, the Director of the Local 

 Department of Agriculture, and members of the start of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West 

 Indies, together with many of the leading planters. 



The first part of the demonstration consisted of 

 ploughing partially prepared land. Attached to the tractor 

 was a three-furrow mould-board plough. This was 

 successfully drawn by the tractor, ploughing to a depth of 

 8 inches. The speed of tie tractor was about 4 ni.p.h. 

 While this demonstration proved that the tractor is capable 

 of doing that class of work described, it would have been 

 of greater interest if a subsoil plough had been used 

 instead of a mould board p'ough, for deep ploughing is the 

 kind practised on sugar-cane estates in the West Indies. 

 Nevertheless, since the resistance of a mould-board plough 

 is greater than that of a sub.-'oil plough, there is no reason 

 to believe that the work with a sub^cil plough would be 

 any less satisfactory 



It is understood that the makers of the tractor are 

 arranging to construct and tend to Barbados a suitable 

 plough at an early date. 



The .second part of the demonstration was of a more 

 strenuous character. In this the tractor was required to haul 

 the plo.iigh through soil c )ntaining old cine stools, land that, 

 except for the removal of trash, had n t been touched since 

 the crop was harvested. The condition of the .soil was not 

 very favourable for ploughing by tractor, being wet and soft. 

 Nor was the surface of the field at all idesl for this work. 

 Yet it must be admitted that, on thn whole, the tractor did 

 good work. It is true, frequent stoppages occurred, but 

 these were not due to any faulty construction of the engine, 

 but to the drains running across the field, and to the soft 

 character of the soil which caused the driving wheels to slip. 



This slipping of the driving wheels would seem to need 

 attention. It generally tends to occur when one wheel is 

 in tlje freshly cut furrow and the other is on the unploughed 

 land. Naturally in this condition of list, greater weight is 

 thrown on the furrow driving wheel, and a corresponding 

 weight is taken off the land wheel. This not only means 

 a loss of power through the land wheel flipping, but also 

 means that a strain is put on the ditfereniial. On harder soil 

 it probably would not have occurred ; but some arrangement 

 of adjusting the height <■( the :ixle on the lower side, an 

 arrangement which, it is believed, has been successfully 

 adopted in some makes of tractors, would greatly reduce the 

 trouble referred to. 



As already intincated, there are no objections, as far as 

 this demonstration went, to the Twin City engine. Some 

 people were ir.clined to think that the tractor as a whole 

 was too heavy, but the efficiency of the engine was beyond 

 dispute. It started easily on gasolene and worked on 

 kerosene in a higMy satislactory manner. It would appear 

 that the governing arrangement in this engine is 

 wood, for the speed remains constant irrespective of 

 tie great and continual alterations in load. The 

 engine is fitted with a Bosohe magneto, and the four cylinders 

 are cooled by water circulated by means • f a pump. The 

 engine is claimed to develop 3.5 h.p. 



The capacity of this tractor for haulage work on the 

 road was not demonstrated, but it m-iy be taken for 

 granted that it would be quite satisfactory. Ordinary 

 motor vans are being used for haulage in Barbados : it is 

 likely that a tractor of the Twin City type would be found 

 more economical and less liable to accident. 



The makers claim that the Twin City will plough 

 8 to 10 acres a day on a consumption of 20 gallons of 

 kerosene. This is interesting in comparison with figures 

 from Antigua in regard to the 'I itan tractor there. The 

 power of this tractor at the drawbar is 10 h.p. It will 

 plough 3 acres a day on a consumption of 16 gallons of 

 kerosene ; but this might be improved on under skilled man- 

 agement. Its cost is about £400 ; that of the Twin City 

 tractor is about £500. It would appear therefore that 

 the Twin City is the better investment. 



What we really need in the West Indies is a ploughing 

 match with different tractors. In Barbados we have a Ford- 

 son, a Cleveland (caterpillar), and Twin City. If these were 

 tried against each other doing actual work on an estate, the 

 planter could soon make up his mind as to what he is 

 prepa'ed to buy. As it is, we hear one person saying this 

 tractor is the best and another person saying that one is the 

 best, while in reality no one knows which is the best until 

 they have been tried under exactly the .same conditions. 

 There used to be ploughing matches in Barbados with osen. 

 This custom has of late years disappeared. If it were revived 

 in regard to tractors, as it could be by a live agricultural 

 society, we should ascertain information that would benefit 

 the planter, and provide the makers of tractors with a sound 

 idea of what West Indian estates are really in need of. 



MOTOR TRACTORS FOR ST. VINCENT. 



The Barbados Sti //Jard tor August 2-1: published the 

 following report on the proceedings of the Legislative 

 Council, St. Vincent: — 



'Replying to the qnestion by Mr. Corea notice of which 

 was given at the previous meeting. His Honour stated that 

 the Governor-in Council had decided to allow motor tractors 

 to be imported free of duty, with a view to encouraging the 

 use of such machines in suitable areas, provided such tractors 

 were to be used only for agricultural work. 



'An Order-in Council made under authority of the 

 Customs Duties Ordinance, 1913„ on the .July 14, 1919, 

 causing '"Motor Tractors imported and used for Agricultural 

 work" to be insert> d in ha list of exemptions in the second 

 schedule of the Ordinance was laid on the table and received 

 the approval of the Ci uncil. The vote was unanimous. 



'In view of the obvious need of machinery for tillage, 

 in order to expind cultivation and to further develop the 

 agricultural resources of the colony we heartily 

 accord our approval to the encouragement thus accoided 

 large land owners It cannot be doubted that if all 

 the large estate owners desired fully tn cu'tivate their 

 lands they cou'd not do so at present owing 1 1 the shortage 

 of labour, or at least of men who are willing to plough the 

 fields by methods adopted in the [last. Imp'emental tillage was 

 long ago recommended by the Imperial Departiuiiit of 

 Agriculture as a solution of one of the difficult problems 

 witli which agriculturists are faced in St Vincent, and we 

 think thai, a ii'ore general effort to turn to modern methods 

 of tillage will check the growing dislike for field labour 

 among the class upon which the planters ar-' solely depend- 

 ent for the cultivation of their lands, and would in the long 

 run be beaeficial to all sections of the community.' 



