Vol. XII. No. 295 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



2C1 



AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING. 



TRACTORS FOR THE TROPICS. 

 An announcement, in French, has just been issued 

 by the Belgian Minister for the Colonies to the effect 

 that an international trial of tractors and other appli- 

 ances answering the purposes of mechanical labour will 

 take place at Chassart (Brabant) .towards tlie end of 

 September l'.U3. It is explained in the booklet, which 

 ha.s been received at this Office, that the objects of the trial 

 are as follows. Steam engines have been employed since 

 11' II by the agricultural service in the Belgian Congo 

 (Kiitanga) for clearing land and for transport purposes in 

 regions where native manual labour is rare or costly, and 

 in the zones where the I.setse fly prohibits the eniiiloyment of 

 draft animals. It is stated that these mechanical means 

 having given excellent results, the Minister for the Colonies 

 has decided to increase the number of machines used for 

 clearing land in Ivatanga, and to introduce tractors into other 

 districts of the colony. The leading societies of the Belgian 

 Colonies have recently shown their intention to have recourse 

 to the same action in order t" extend important plantations 

 in the lower Congo and at Kasai. It is maintained that 

 these projects demonstrate the usefulness of a competition 

 where the numerous modern appliances, in principle acd in 

 construction very dissimilar, will be subjcclt-d to deliberate 

 trial organized and judged by competent eiiL-iaeers 



Thf Min'Ster fi,r the Colonies will invite, officially, foreign 

 (iovernments, and especially those of the Colonies, to take 

 part in the international meeting by sending delegates from 

 the various agricultural departments. 



The trials will include the testing under practical 

 conditions of five ditl'erent classes of machines; (1) ordinary 

 steam tractors; (2) benzene tractors worked by an internal 

 combustion engine; (3) tractors provided with a cable 

 arrangement for hauling ploughs acro.ss the field; (4) auto- 

 matic ploughs, that is to say, machine,^ carrying on the motor- 

 chassis, the body of the plough; (5) machines carrying on the 

 motor chassis, implements which may be put into motion by 

 the motor. 



Each machine will have to work during two days of 

 eifht hours each. As regards ploughing, the soil will have to 

 be worked to a depth of from 20 to 22 cm. The earth where 

 the trials are to be made is easy to work. In connexion 

 with traction on the roads, the trials will be made along 

 a country lane in bad condition. 



The booklet gives a large amount of further inform-ation 

 including the score card used for awarding points, and not the 

 least interesting feature of the publication is the large number 

 of excellent photographs, which .show in many instances the 

 machines at work under wild conditions in West Africa. 



the viscosity of the liquids. The character of the sawdust, 

 whether wet or dry or from soft or hard wood, apparentlj- 

 does not affect its efficiency, but the admixture of sodium 

 bicarbonate materially increases it. {E.rjierhuent .Station 

 Record, for June 1913.) 



A Self-Propelled Portable Elevator.— The 



Lov.i<inna Flantei- (Jn]}' 5, 1913) describes an arrangement 

 designed by an American firm for handling sacks of raw 

 sugar weighing from 300 to 350 Bb. There are two types of 

 machines, the 'Cuban' for handling the sacks at the plunta- 

 tion warehouse, and the 'American' for dealing with the same 

 sacks in the .-^toiage warehouses of the American refinery. 



The machines are built entirely of steel, strongly and 

 heavily constructed to withstand strain and rough usage. 

 They are provided with electric, gasolene, alcohol, steam or 

 compresspd air power, as may be desired by the purchaser. 

 Each machine is provided with a steel chute that may be 

 quickly and easily attached tc the top of the upper carrier 

 for use when it is required to place the bags some distance 

 back on the pile, thus eliminating the heavy work of placing 

 them by hand. 



The speed of the carriages is about 50 feet per minute, 

 which gives a capacity of over 500 bags or about 80 tons, 

 per hour, with the assistance of ten or eleven men loading' 

 and operating the machine and placing the bags in position. 



Another firm has invented a machine of a similar type 

 which is a combined elevator, conveyor and unloader. It is 

 built in different sizes ranging in capacity from 1 to 3 tons 

 per minute and elevating to a height of from 15 to 35 feet 

 or more. 



Agricultural Implements in Japan.— In com- 

 parison with other countries, the standard of agricultural 

 implements used in Japan is remarkably low. A writer in the 

 Journal of the Royal Sockti/ of Arts {3\x\y i,V.)Vi), a.i\.er 

 describing the different primitive implements already in use, 

 makes certain suggestions which are here briefly noted. 



It is advocated th^it the use of farm animals should 

 be increased in the place of human labour. In regard to the 

 ploughing of dry soils, the introduction of the vineyard type 

 of [iloHgh is advocated, and the necessity for special 

 implements for the cultivation of wet fields is referred to. 



There are several changes taking place in Japan which 

 are likely to bring about the employment of motor power 

 in cultivation, namely, the concentration of labour ia 

 the rising industrial centres, and the straightening out of 

 the old irregular boundaries between the fields, and the 

 re-allotment of land. 



Extinguishing Fires with Sawdust.— The re- 

 sults of experiments have been recorded on the use of sawdust 

 and mixtures of sawdust and sodium bicarbonate for extin- 

 guishing fires, especially those of inflimmable liquids. Three 

 tanks were used in these tests, the flaming liquids being 

 lacquer and gasolene, and the sawdust being applied by 

 means of an ordinary long-handled shovel. 



It was found that sawdust, if spread over the surface, 

 will readily and succeesfully extinguish fires of inflammable 

 liquids when contained in moderate sized tanks or spread in 

 email quantities on floors. The etliciency of sawdust is 

 due to its blanketing action excluding air, and increases with 



Automatic Recording Juice Scale. — According 



to the American Sugar Iiidustri/ (July 19, 1913), an 

 accurate automatic weighing and recording machine for such 

 heavy flowing and foaming materials as raw sugar juices, 

 molasses and the like has recently been invented. It is 

 stated that this scale has been used in practice at a sugar 

 factory at Dormagen, Germany, and that the greatest varia- 

 tions in accuracy are never greater than 02 of 1 per cent. If 

 desired, this machine is also provided with a patent 

 remainder attachment, which is an arrangement whereby the 

 automatic weighing mechanism is thrown out of gear and 

 any amount from zero to the capacity of the scale — which 

 varies according tc the size of the machine from 100 tf> 

 g jSOO lb — may be accurately weighed. This additional 

 weight, however, is not recorded on the counter, and must be- 

 added to the gross amount shown. 



