1920.] Agricultural Machinery. 



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the mind of most of the witnesses, it is evident that the last five 

 years have introduced fresh elements into the whole problem. 

 The shortage of labour caused by the withdrawal of man-power 

 to the Army forced the farmer to place greater reliance on 

 machinery, while at the same time the economic changes of 

 the last few years have brought about a large advance in the 

 wages of farm workers. We have to recognise also that the 

 present comparative prosperity of the farmer has enabled 

 him to purchase machinery more freely than he was able 

 to do formerly. The factors which were in operation before 

 the War, and which placed this country in a position of relative 

 inferiority, so far as the use of machinery was concerned, 

 to some others both in Europe and America, have not, however, 

 been entirely eliminated. 



Reasons for Unreadiness to purchase in ike Past. — The 

 unreadiness of many farmers in the past to adopt labour-aiding 

 devices cannot, in the opinion of the Committee, be traced 

 to any great extent to their unfavourable financial position, 

 but is largely attributable to the cheapness of labour and to 

 the influence of a tradition and social environment inimical 

 to change, which was shared by all classes of the agricultural 

 community. It is a commonplace of industrial history that 

 low wages tend to stereotype methods of production, and 

 agriculture has not been exempt from this tendency. Even 

 so late as the beginning of the War, the self-binder had not 

 been adopted in some arable districts of the country, and in 

 not a few cases the tractor was regarded with unreasonable 

 hostility and prejudice which even now have not entirely 

 disappeared. 



Incentives to Use of Machinery. — At the moment agriculture 

 is passing through a period of transition. The farmer is 

 on the whole, in a better position to purchase machinery 

 than he has been for many years, his outlook has been modified 

 by his experiences during the War, and he has the stimulus 

 of a heavy labour bill which, if he is to maintain his area 

 under tillage crops, he can meet but in two ways — by obtaining 

 a more efficient service from each worker, or by adding his 

 labour costs to the price of his products. Of these alternatives, 

 the Committee do not hesitate to suggest, only the former can 

 be considered. 



Influence of Machinery on Cost of Production and Methods of 

 Farming. — Up to a certain limit the costs of production can 

 be diminished by increased use of fertilisers or by improved 

 methods of cultivation, but a large proportion of the land 



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