AGRICULTURE EM WILTSHIRE EST THE FIRST WORLD WAR 



79 



Table 5 Arable Crops ('000 acres) 



140 T 



I Wheat 

 : Barley 



I Oats 

 Other 



1 40 acres oats sown March 1 5 to April 2 1 on loam 

 soil overlying chalk 500-660 feet above sea level. Land 

 had been grass for 18 years. Ploughed by tractor 

 plough to depth of 4 inches, harrowed 3 to 4 times 

 with Parmitter's harrow and rolled twice with a heavy 

 Cambridge roller. 100 acres received 1 cwt. sulphate 

 of ammonia and 1% cwt. basic phosphate per acre. 

 Rest not manured. Crop party successful and pardy 

 a failure. Good results on land ploughed 1 March to 

 7 April. Wireworm destroyed crop on land ploughed 

 before March. 



300 acres oats, chiefly Tartarian. Sown March-April 

 on good loam overlying chalk. Had been grassland 

 for 17 years. Ploughed in February-April by steam 

 plough to depth of 8 inches, pressed, harrowed four 

 to six times and rolled. Many parts of the crop failed 

 and, on the whole, would hardly pay costs of 

 cultivation. Soil not so firmly compacted. Problems 

 with dry weather and with fruit fly and wireworm. 



The most common problem was that of wire- 

 worm. Experience from the first year suggested 

 that this was particularly present on loose land 

 and it could be overcome if the land was 

 consolidated by several rollings - as many as ten 

 times in some instances. 48 



When the Executive Committee was disbanded 

 in February 1 9 1 9 it claimed that approximately an 

 additional 45,000 acres had been brought into 

 cultivation compared with the target of 48,000 

 acres. * 9 In fact, the returns to the Board of 

 Agriculture showed that the targets were not nearly 

 reached. The increase in arable land between 1916 

 and 1918 was only 36,168 acres and the proportion 

 of the arable sown to grain (wheat, oats and barley) 

 increased from 48% to only 56% compared with 

 the target of 65%. 50 



MECHANISATION 



On the outbreak of war, mechanisation in Wiltshire 

 agriculture was very limited. But the demand for 

 substantial areas of land to be ploughed up after 

 1916 could be achieved only by the use of tractors 

 and mechanical ploughs especially in view of the 

 shortage of labour. 



Some steam ploughing was certainly taking 

 place on the larger farms and steam ploughmen 

 were being given exemption from call-up because 

 of the importance of their work. Arthur Stratton of 

 Alton Priors, for example, had five sets of steam 

 ploughs complete with instruments and vans. He 

 kept one for his own farm and the other four he 

 used for contract work on other farms: 



Class B.B. compound Engine. New in early Spring 



1914 with implements, etc. Nos. 14344 and 



14345 

 Compound 9 years old with implements. Nos. 12032 



and 12033. 

 12 H.P. (old type) about 46 years old with 



implements. 

 Odd set. One 12 H.P. Engine about 46 years old. 



One 14 H.P. (new type) 40 years old. 

 Old horizontal converted Engine about 56 years old 



with implements complete. 51 



Steam ploughs were cumbersome to use and 

 especially to move from farm to farm making it 

 difficult to get full use from them. In January 1918 

 the Agricultural Executive Committee enquired 

 into the use of the steam ploughing tackle belonging 

 to Messrs. Rawlings and Sons of Chiseldon and to 

 Mr. R.W Eavis of Woodborough. The committee 

 was not satisfied that the machines were being used 

 efficiently and there was no guarantee that they 

 would be offered to other farms. It was 

 recommended therefore that they should be taken 

 over by the government. 5 ~ 



Some tractors were also available. In September 

 1915 T.H.White Ltd. of Devizes held a 

 demonstration at West Park Farm, Market 

 Lavington, of new agricultural machinery, especially 

 two types of oil tractor from the International 

 Harvester Co. The larger tractor of 25 H.P. weighed 

 only 4 tons and so was said to leave no impression 

 on the ground. It required one man in charge of 

 the tractor and one who sat on the plough steering 

 from his seat by means of a lever close at hand and 

 a similar convenient means of increasing or reducing 

 the depth. It ploughed an acre in just V/z hours. 



