1!)0  Trials  of  Agricultural  Motors. 
From  the  description  of  the  reaper  trials,  it  will  be  found 
that  two  reaping  machines,  each  with  a 6 ft.  cutter,  can  be  hauled 
by  a steam  tractor,  of  the  kinds  tested  in  the  trials,  at  a speed 
which  is  as  high  or  higher  than  the  machines  and  binder  strings 
can  stand. 
The  more  powerful  oil  and  petrol  tractors  can  also  haul  at 
such  speeds,  and  the  smaller  tractor  successfully  hauled  one  6 ft. 
reaper  at  what  may  be  called  a full  speed  for  such  machines. 
The  speed  at  which  ploughing  can  be  done  by  steam  tractors 
was  not  a quantity  which  the  trials  were  primarily  intended  to 
ascertain,  and  the  different  forms  of  tractors  entered  would 
have  made  useful  comparison  difficult  in  this  respect.  The 
steam  tractors  could  all  have  ploughed  more  furrows  at  about 
the  pace  they  moved  the  three-furrow  plough.  The  little  single- 
gear Ivel  tractor,  however,  the  engine  of  which  gave  an  average 
of  6.65  horse  power  on  the  brake,  hauled  the  three-furrow  plough, 
and  on  a long  five-acre  plot  ploughed  0.74  acres  per  hour. 
On  the  road  there  was,  even  before  the  trials,  no  question 
as  to  what  the  steam  tractors  could  do.  The  oil  tractors,  being  of 
very  different  powers  and  weights,  make  comparison  of  their 
capabilities  and  usefulness  again  difficult,  and  especially  so  with 
regard  to  their  general  employment  for  average  farm  purposes. 
It  is  obvious  that  for  many  farm  purposes  the  larger  powers  are 
not  required  either  on  the  land,  in  the  yard,  or  buildings,  and 
even  on  the  road  the  smaller  tractors  will  haul  a considerable 
and  often  quite  sufficient  load. 
The  steam  engines  best  fulfilled  the  requirements  of  the  trials, 
but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  oil  engine  will  ultimately 
best  suit  the  farmer’s  requirements  if  a general  purpose  motor 
tractor  is  to  be  adopted  for  the  average  farm,  and  unless  the 
work  be  split  up  in  future  as  it  is  now,  between  the  small  motor 
for  farmyard  and  farmstead  work,  and  the  more  powerful  tractor 
for  the  heavy  traction  and  field  work,  as  now  run  by  those  who 
make  a business  of  hiring  out. 
Judging  by  their  relative  performances  and  by  their  capabili- 
ties as  shown  during  the  trials  and  not  judging  by  the  future  im- 
provements, which  are  of  ready  conception,  in  the  petrol  and  oil 
tractors  as  shown  in  the  trials,  the  judges  were  -without  hesita- 
tion led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  conditions  as  provided  in  the 
regulations,  and  the  requirements  from  a practical  point  of  view 
were  best  fulfilled  by  the  McLaren  tractor. 
The  trials  show  that  under  moderately  favourable  conditions 
a small  oil  tractor  can  haul  a three-furrow  plough  or  a reaper, 
