ID-iO.] 



The Lincoln Tractor Trials, 1920. 



721 



the trials. The extreme facility with which they can be 

 steered and handled makes them suitable for short headlands 

 and small fields. Last year the report of the judges showed 

 a very high fuel consumption, which was disappointing, and 

 it is to be hoped that an improvement will be indicated in the 

 forthcoming report. 



Cable Sets. — Comment has been reserved on the cable sets, 

 which provided a new feature for this year's trials. The steam 

 set does not require special description, but the two internal 

 combustion sets, one manufactured by Messrs. Fowler and 

 the other by Messrs. McLaren, deserve notice. The former 

 is a powerful machine, each unit being a 60 H.P. petrol engine 

 of conventional type, mounted in the usual position in front, 

 with the shaft longitudinal. The w^inding drum is underneath, 

 as in the familiar steam model, and the whole plant is very 

 substantially built. The IMcLaren set is a lighter machine 

 embod}dng a different design; a form of windlass at the rear 

 did the duty of the customary suspended drum. 



These equipments are likely to be highly favoured in 

 countries where difficulties are met with in providing coal or 

 wood fuel and a suitable water supply, and where there is 

 an ample supply of oil fuel. It will be interesting to observe 

 whether there is any tendency for oil to displace steam in 

 cable ploughing in this country, but it is understood that the 

 manufacturers have the foreign market in view, at least to 

 a very large extent. In any case, no comparison can be- 

 drawn between the cable sets and the mobile tractor, as their 

 work falls in entirely different classes, and only very exception- 

 ally can they ever be in competition. 



Costs. — It is to be hoped that in their report the judges 

 will remark upon the relation of cost to units of power. The 

 prices of tractors and self-propelled ploughs vary from about 

 £300 to £600; but the capital expenditure is only one factor, 

 and fuel consumption and general upkeep are points to which 

 farmers need to pay the closest attention. It is true that 

 in a trial of brief duration running costs cannot be estimated 

 with any close degree of accuracy, but the facts elicited over 

 the nine days of the trials may yet be of some assistance in 

 establishing a basis of comparison between machines. 



Conclusions. — The awards of gold and bronze medals were 

 announced at the conclusion of the trials, and have been 

 published in the press. Without disparaging in any wajr 



