66 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



MARfH 4, 1911. 



the animals in such a way that the food absorbtd by 

 them is used as little as possible in doing useless 

 work. Chief among the precautions to be observed in 

 this way will be to see that the animals are stalled as 

 near as possible to the places where they are wanted, 

 and that they are pi-operly protected against inclement 

 weather. In regard to the former consideration, energy 

 and therefore food, arc wasted where it is necess- 

 ary to take the animals on the estates long distances 

 to be worked, or in the case of cows, to be milked. In 

 the latter connexion, animals subjected to untoward 

 conditions of weather must use energy in order to over- 

 come the possible evil effects of those conditions. An 

 interesting illustration of the extent to which the food 

 and energy of an animal may be wasted in this way 

 is supplied by the fact that, with cows, for every 

 pound of rain evaporated from the body, there is con- 

 sumed more than three-quarters of a pound of solid 

 substance, reckoned as fat which might have gone to 

 form milk. 



In continuation, as regards animals, a large amount 

 of the food is often wasted in providing energy for 

 doing useless work, in connexion with ploughing and 

 hauling. In both of these, care should be taken that 

 the animal is attached to the imjjlement or vehicle in 

 such a way that as large a proportion as possible of the 

 power given by it shall be used directly in the work 

 that is required of it. Generally speaking, as regards 

 ploughing, the line of the traces should be one and the 

 same with a line passing through their place of attach- 

 ment and the centre of gi-eatest pressure on the mould 

 board. With reference to haulage, in the case of a very 

 smooth njad such as that formed by a line of i-ails, 

 the plane of the traces should be parallel to the 

 surface of this; where the road is not smooth, however, 

 the effect of the friction and the fact that the wheels are 

 continually endeavouring to mount up out of the surface 

 into which they have sunk, will make it necessary for the 

 traces to slope downwards and baekwards. Another 

 matter of importance that is not usually recognized, as 

 regards vehicles travelling over ordinar}- roads, is the dis- 

 tribution of the load on the carriage. It is must usually, 

 but not always, the case that the heaviest part of the 

 load should be placed over the hind wheels, because 

 firstly, the fiont wheels make a firm track for the hind 

 wheels carrying the heavier weight; secondly, the hind 

 wheels are generally the larger, so that they sink 

 a smaller distance into the road, and use less of the 

 energy of traction than would be consumed by the front 

 wheels, with the greater part of the load on them: and 

 thirdly, such distribution of the load enables the vehicle 



to be turned with greater ease and less damage to the 

 road. 



So far, attention has been given to the animal, its 

 mode of attachment, and the load on the vehicle which 

 it draws. It is plain, however, that much more might 

 be done toward the improvement of the roads them- 

 selves, on which the animals have to work. Bad roads 

 mean constant expenditure in providing extra food for 

 a continual waste of energy, and they also bring about 

 unnecessary injury to animals, vehicles and implements. 

 In the amelioration of such conditions, attention should 

 be given to the provision of smooth and rigid roads 

 with easy inclines, and where it is not possible to pro- 

 vide anything but a rough road, the conditions should 

 be bettered as much as may be by the use of vehicles 

 having large wheels with wide tires. It may be useful 

 to mention here that a cheap and effective implement 

 kncjwn as the road drag* is much employed in the 

 United States for the economical improvement of roads 

 in agricultural districts. In any case, to whatever 

 extent the improvement of a road may have been 

 effected, attention to its proper drainage is a matter 

 of the first importance, if its best condition is to be 

 maintained. 



While mention is being made of roads in connexion 

 with agricultural economics, it may be opportune to 

 attend to the tact that much more use ma}' well be 

 made of means for overhead transport and jiortable rail- 

 ways. The latter are of particular a[)plication on 

 estates already possessing permanent track for purposes 

 like that of cane haulage, and where wide ctiltivation is 

 practised. They can be made to connect with the per- 

 manent lines, and form a means of effecting the carriage 

 of estate products from the fields, and of manures to 

 the cultivated areas, with no necessity for transfer, 

 and with the greatest economy in the pro\ision of 

 energy for traction. 



Another matter to which a large amount of atten- 

 tion may well be given is the practice of economy in 

 the construction of buildings on estates. There is often 

 a great waste of material when these are being erected, 

 on account of a lack of knowledge as to the relation 

 between the size of the stufl used and the stresses that 

 it can support, so that useless expenditure occurs in the 

 pro\ision of unnecessary material. In the same connexion, 

 useful consideration might well he given to the greater 

 em])loyment of round btiildingN-'- in the place of those 

 wliich are sijuare or oblong. These are the most 



* DosciiliL'd most niciitly in /'i>.« BnUelin Nn. 33 of the 

 riiiviisity of Noliiiisk.i Au'iiiiiUmjil Kxporimont Stntion. 

 t Soe Ayrk'ilt'iiaJ A'nrs Vul. IX. p. ir>3. 



