Vol. XVIII. No. 457. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



349 



THE WORK OP THE TRACTOR. 



For a sound, reliable and comprehensive article on the 

 work of the motor tractor, we may refer the reader to the 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultuial Sodctv of England, 

 Vol. 19 (1918). The article is by Mr. E. H. Garrad, 

 who, a8 an asricultural expert in the employ of the County 

 Councils of Kent and Surrey, had practical experience during 

 the war in connexion with the employment of tractors by the 

 Government at the critical time when the food supply of the 

 cation was in jeopardy. 



Concerning the initial difficulties, Mr. Garrad says: 

 'Although agricultural tractors were still, in the opinion 

 of most farmers, only in their infancy, the Government 

 took steps to purchase every tractor of almost any make 

 that was available. Some were manufactured by Eaglish 

 firms ; the majority, came from abroid. The initial difficul- 

 ties in getting them to work were enormous. Many of the 

 makes were practically unknown in this country ; there were 

 no trained engineers to demonstrate them or train the drivers; 

 there were no available men accustomed to machinery to be 

 taught to drive or treat them properly ; there were no 

 supplies of spare parts in the country, nor manufacturers to 

 make them : and there were no experienced engineers to 

 repair the tractors when they broke down. The tractor 

 ploughs that came over with the tractors from Americi had, 

 in mo.st cases, never been tried in England before, and maoy 

 were found to be unsuited to Euglish conditions. The 

 whole thing was one great experiment, the cost of which was 

 only justified at the time by the seriousness of the 

 food situation. 



' Each different make of tractor had its npportunity. 

 Many, from one cause or another, failed : some proved 

 successful. In Kent alone, fifteen different makes have been 

 tried, including the Overtime, Titan, Mogul, Emerson, 

 Fordson, Case, Sandusky, Burford-Cleveland, Roston 

 Proctor Caterpillar, Dungay-Weeks, Parret, Saunderson 

 and Mills, Whiting-Bull, and Sampson. Many of these 

 had to be discarded owing to the impossibility of obtaining 

 spare parts in sufficient quantities, and the only makes 

 now beina employed by the Kent W.ir Agricultural Com- 

 mittee are the Titans, Overtimes, and Fordsons. The 

 number of tractors belonging to the Committee in the 

 county at the present time is ISO, and comprises 112 

 Titans, 64 Fordsons, and 4 Overtimes. 



' Of the American tractor ploughs and other implements 

 imported with the tractors, many proved quite unsuitable 

 for English conditions, but in other cases it was found 

 possible to adapt them, so that good work resulted. In 

 Kent, there are 242 tractor ploughs belonging to the 

 Committee, including 7-5 Ransomes, 5.5 Howards, 53 Olivers 

 28 Cockshutis, and 28 SaunHersons, and 129 Tractor- 

 cultivators, chiefly Martins. The relative popularity of 

 the various makes is by no means the same in different 

 parts of the county. In fact the farmers in one part of the 

 county ask for one make of plough which farme s in iinother 

 part of the county refuse altogether. Different makes suit 

 different local conditions and types of soil. 



With alack of experienced drivers or even of the miterial 

 from which to train them, with a lack of experienced engineers 

 to repair tlie tractors wl en they break down, and of the 

 adequate supply of spare parts, everything has been against 

 llie success of the Gov-rnraent tractors, liut in spite of 

 all these disadvantages ti.ey achieved their objec, which 

 was to increase the homegrown corn supply of the country, 

 and proved their value as arable land machines. The trade 

 jn agricultural tractors is increasing daily, and there is 

 sc;\rcely a farmer occupying 200 acres or more of arable land 



who has not already begun to consider whetlerit would not 

 be to his advantage to become the owner of a tractor' 



Mr. Garrad then deals with the conditions necessary 

 ior the successful employment of tractors. In this con- 

 nexion he refers to certain advantages in using a oneway or 

 balance plough. Concerning tractor work on the side of a 

 slope, this is stated not to be satisfactory. 



After describing the advantages and disadvantages of 

 different types of tractors— the Caterpillars, the 'three- 

 wheeled tractor of the Moline type, and four wheeled 

 tractors— the writer proceeds to discuss the suitablity of 

 tractors for various farm operations. 



As to the amount of ploughing per day that a 

 tractor may be expected to do, the writer siys, in refer- 

 ence to figures obtained from private tractor ovvners ; — 



' These figures show that a tractor in private hind.s 

 should plough i), to 4J acres of land per ei^hi w .rking 

 hou.s, according to the make of tractor, with the fuel con- 

 sumption of 3 to 4 gallons per a^re. Tliese tractors 

 hav.', of course, only been worked when c )aditions are 

 favourable, whereas the Government tractors hive been at 

 work under all conditions whenever work wi< in any way 

 profitable, and as a rule hava been set by fann.'rs to p'ough 

 the worst fields on their farms. In nearly every county, 

 however, a Government I'ordson Tractor wiih a self-lift 

 plough, has ploughel over 5 acres in the day, under 

 favourable conditions, in the hands of one confil^^nt' nun or 

 woman, whilst the samt- tractors have fro'^u-jntly cut 15 

 acres of corn in the day with a seU'-binler.' 



The next point dealt with is wear an! tear, which 

 is followed by considerations of the advantages to bs 

 expected from the use of tractors on the farm. ■ The 

 greatest enemy to the trac'-or ' siys Mr. Girrad, 'is the 

 weather. It is es'ssntially a fine w.-ather mi:hine, and in 

 ordinary conditions a farmer is well advised to get for.vari 

 with his work in th ; autumn, and then put th" tractor 

 away until February or March when the land will have 

 again become workable.' 



As to the defects of the tractor, in the writer".s opinion 

 'many of the present day tractors are too heavy and clumsy. 

 Practical experience has proved that a light tractor will 

 stand up to its work where a heavy tractor h«3 tj ."tand 

 still, and given sufE;ient power, the light- weigh- tractor 

 has many advantages over the heavy one, especially as 

 regards price.' 



Concerning plough.s, Mr. Garrad says ; • The ploug' s 

 attached to the tractors are quite as much in neel ot 

 improvement as the tractors themselves. The speed at 

 which the tractor travels affects the quality of the 

 work by a particular plough, and an adjustment which 

 is suitable at one speed may be quite unsuit- 

 able at another. This is a matter that requires urgent 

 attention at the hands of the manufacturers. Tractor 

 cultiiators are also capable of improvement, and there is imi. 

 yet on the market a satisf^ctcry tractor harrow.' 



The decline in the vanilla industry in the .Seychelles was 

 noticed in the report on the Agricultural Department 

 of those islands for rJl7, which was reviewed in the 

 Agriciilturdyews, M ly .31, 1919. If however the vanilU 

 business has fallen away, the Pfrfumt-rv ami Essdifi-iJ Oil 

 Record, .July 1919, states that the distillation of e-isential 

 oils has notably incrotised. The oils produced are ylaing- 

 ylang, vetivert. cinnamon bjrk ani cinntmon leaf fils, hut 

 esptcially the last named. 



