10 80 



Farm Drainage Machinery. 



[FEB., 



operation directly called for would be the collection of the milk 

 at the holdings for dispatch to the nearest station or depot. 

 In the event of a surplus the additional organisation required 

 to run a cheese factory, with the principle of co-operation 

 already to hand, would necessarily be more easily provided. 



A further reflection was suggested by the marked similarity 

 between much of the land in Denmark with land in Norfolk 

 and Suffolk. In these counties large tracts of Hght land are 

 now devoted mainly to sheep-farming and sport. Similar land 

 in a small country like Denmark would probably be carrying a 

 cow to every 3 ? cres and contributing more largely to the wealth 

 of the country and the re-instatement of a healthy rural 

 population. 



FARM DRAINAGE MACHINERY. 



Major J. G. Merrison. 



Farm drainage by mechanical means is recognised to be 

 a subject of pressing and increasing importance to the British 

 farmer, but little is known in the United Kingdom of the 

 methods employed elsewhere, particularly in Canada and the 

 United States. In those two countries high wages and a 

 scarcity of skilled labour gave rise long ago to conditions very 

 similar to those obtaining to-day in the United Kingdom, 

 where manual labour is now in a great many cases so expensive 

 as to be prohibitive. This article is not intended to explain 

 the benefits to be derived from draining, or to discuss the 

 methods to be followed in particular circumstances, but to 

 describe and illustrate the various classes and types of machine 

 successfully employed in this country and abroad. 



Drainage machinery ranges from small ploughs and scoops, 

 costing but a few pounds, to elaborate machines costing 

 thousands. Many and widely different conditions require 

 to be met in drainage, and machines have been designed 

 for practically all possible conditions ; but for purposes of 

 classification it will be convenient to divide the machines into 

 four definite groups : — 



1. Ploughs and scoops. 



2. Wheel excavators and endless chain excavators. 



3. Steam tackle. 



4. Scraper excavators. 



