Vol. XVI No. 407. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



383 



THE USE OF MACHINERY ON THE LAND. 



In several recent numbers of this .Journal attention has 

 been directed to this subject. The following article from 

 the Fitld, October 6, 1917, is reprinted as of great interest 

 in this connexion: — 



•The use of machinery on the land continues to increase 

 and expand in all directions. The particular types of 

 machines that excite interest at i resent are those designed 

 for the cultivation of the land, which are provided in con- 

 stantly widening variety and improving efficiency Th; 

 change in this respect since war conditions have obtained 

 has been remarkable, and it becomes more pronounced a.s 

 the need for new and speedier methods increases. The 

 customs that answered in the less strenuous days of peace 

 are retained, and are unlikely ever to be completely super- 

 seded, but owing to the diminished resources in men and 

 horses, and the growing reijuirements of the country, special 

 and supplementary arrangements have to be made for coping 

 with the altered situation in a manner appropriate to the 

 occa.sion. This need has brought into the field of aericul- 

 tural activity mechanical appliances showing a diversity of 

 design and construction that testifies to the care with which 

 the requirements of the land have been studied, and the 

 promptitude of the engineering firms in coining to the rescue 

 of an industry hampered by war conditions, and yet essential 

 to success in prosecuting hosiilitie». 



'The distinguishing feature in the countryside this 

 autumn is the conspicuous part played by machinery in 

 performing the various tillage operations preparatory to the 

 drilling of the winter cereals The teams are doing their 

 share with diligence and proved efficiency, but so urgent is 

 the need for pushing on rapidly with the work that for the 

 moment horse-power is rather over.shadowed by the steam 

 and oil applimces of which it can at least be .said they ciiver 

 the ground more cjuickl}', a point of importance at a time 

 when attention ha.s to be concentrated mainly up jn getting 

 the work done But while the results from horse-drawn 

 inipleraents may be uniformly more satisfactory, it would be 

 unfair to the newer forms of traction to conclude that the 

 •work done by steam or oil is necessarily inferior or defective. 

 If it be conceded that it is more variable it is ec^ually true 

 to say that in many instances the machine is superior to the 

 horse because of its greater power to undertake the heavier 

 operations, and to do more thoroughly the initial work of 

 breaking the hard summer surface, and reducing the soil to 

 the loose state that constitutes the best seed-bed. Steam 

 tackle has long bten regarded as the only competent power 

 tc deal effectively with the stronger lands, and this verdict 

 has not been appreciably modified by the advent of the oil 

 tractor. There is proof of this in the busy programme that 

 has been arranged for steam plant between now and winter. 

 It a|ipears that every available outfit has been booked so 

 long in advance that new applications can seldom be enter- 

 tained. From all accounts twice the number of steam 

 appliances would be required to satisfy the present demand. 

 'While the well-tried steam imp'ements are doing excel- 

 lent work on the fallows, stubbles, and clovers, and are 

 rapidly reducing the arrears of tillage operations, the r>ewer 

 oil tractors are giving a good account of themselves in the 

 classes of work commonly done by horses. It is no exagger- 

 ition to say that it is upon oil power' that the country lias 

 to depend principally for the increase in corn production 

 next year. The normal forces of the farm — horses and 

 steam — cannot be sensibly increased, if, indeed, they can be 

 maintained at peace-time strength, so that the oil tractor is 

 :lie only new weapon upon wlii^h it isrsafe to count for the 

 xtji.ded programme of corn growing that the nation expects. 



A very short time back this would have been regarded as 

 a rather unstable foundation upon which to build so impor- 

 tant an expectation, but practical opinion regarding these, 

 machmes has changed rapidly, and in a way that justifies 

 confidence m the ability of the industry to fulfil in liberal 

 measure the great task imposed upon it by the emergency- 

 needs of a nation at war provided of course the supply of 

 tractors is adequate It is believed that the oil tractor was 

 destined m any case to occupy a u-efiil place on the farm, 

 but the war has given it an impetus that will hasten its 

 progress. Necessity is an effective antidote to prejudice, 

 and equally an incentive to enterprise in the introductioii 

 ot new inventions, and the agricultural motor has benefited 

 from the urgency of emergency methods of food production. 

 The high favour into which tractors and motors have forced 

 thernselves as accessories in times of stress is a hopeful augury 

 for important developments in after years. The predictioa 

 IS warranted that just as necessity has expedited their 

 introduction on a large scale, their general utility will secure 

 for them a permanent and prominent place on the well- 

 equipped farm in years to come. With increased experience 

 in the adaptation of motor traction to the multiple duties of 

 the land, tlie position of the farm motor will improve, and 

 its value as an aid to economic production will grow in pro- 

 portion It would, indeed, be unsafe to fix a limit to the 

 merits of the farm motor as an instrument of utility. 



THE HEALTH OF RURAL SCHOOLS 



There have recently been received at the Head Office of 

 this Department three pamphlets issued in the United States 

 by the Joint Committee on Health Problems in Education 

 of the National Council of the National Education Associa- 

 tion and of the Council on Health and Public Instruction of 

 the American Medical Association. The first of these is 

 entitled '.Minimum Health Requirements for Rural Schools', 

 and deals mostly with the health problems of schools in the 

 country; the second is entitled 'Health Essentials for Rural 

 School Children', the object of which is to propose and 

 recommend practical measures which seem necessary and 

 possible for the health of children in country schools; and 

 the third, entitled 'Health Charts', contains illustrations of 

 charts which have been prepared by the Joint Cammitlee 

 referred to above. These charts present diagramatically and 

 pictorially important facts relating to health of school 

 children and the health conditions of schools. We quote the 

 following from the introduction to these pamphlets: — 



'The country school should be as sanitary and whole- 

 some in all essential particulars as the best home in the 

 community. Further, it should be pleasing and attractive 

 in appearance, in furnishings, and surroundings, so that the 

 community may be proud of it; so that the pupils and 

 teacher may take pleasure in attending school.' 



These pamphlets may be recommended to the attention 

 of E-iucatioual authorities in the West Indies, as, mutatis 

 mutandis, valuable hints on the important subject nf health 

 among school children may be gleaned from them. It is 

 stated that copies may be obtained on application from the 

 Tnited States Bureau of Education in Washington. 



A note in Nature, October 4, 1917, states that a national 

 institute is to be established in Itil}', having for its object 

 the investigation of the relations between malaria and aori- 

 culture, the study of the direct and indii-ect cau.ses of The 

 unhealthiness of malarial districts, and the orginizition of 

 a e;'iupiign against those cau.ses. 



