MOTOR TRACTION

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 27, 31 January 1919, Page 4

MOTOR TRACTION

APPLICATION TO HORTICULTURE

The tractor in relation to horticulture was the subject of an address by Mr. George A. Gneen at the- Nurserymen's Conference yesterday. Mr. Greeu said that the day of the horse was fast passing. Tliose who would obtain the best results must adopt every labour-saving device possible. For a number of years mechanical traction had been obtainable, but it was still in the melting-pot, and each year not only saw large additions to the number of tractors in use, but also a great deal of alteration in the bestknown makes. So far, the perfect tractor was not available; nevertheless, power traction in connection with both agriculture and horticulture had gone beyoDd the experimental stage. A recent report by Professor Yerkes, of the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, stated that since 1915, in" one maizegrowing State alone, the number of farm tractors had increased from under 200 to upwards of 1000. Ont of 600 tractor owners, only 3 per cent, reported that the work performed was unequal to horse work. It was claimed that 5 per cent, of the owners reported that their outfits were not disabled for a single day during the season 1918. Of course the reliability of any good make of tractor largely depended on the ability of the operator. Owners of farm and garden tractors should avail themselves to the full of every opportunity to obtain a thorough training m the machine they were to operate. It was claimed by Professor Yerkes that the tractors were being so simplified that the difficulties grew less year by year. Professor J. B. Davidson, in a most instructive article on "Orchard Tractor Management," called attention to the following seven points:—"(l) The tractor must be suited to the work it is required to do. You cannot overload the tractor as you can the horse, without getting into trouble. (2) To moke a tractor pay, you mnst have sufficient work for it. (3) Good construction and good materials are necessary, but the majority of tractor trouble* are due to insufficient lubrication. (4) The operator must be able to detect trouble when it arrives. The time to fix a tractor is before it stops. (5) The operator must know what ha is doing, and be able to make his own adjustment. (6) The tractor must be operated under proper rules. A lot of trouble comes from using too rich a mixture. If you want to save fuel you always want a surplus of air to burn up the carbon. (7) It is necessary to have the right kind of implements to go with the tractor. When you have a small tractor you want to conserve labour; you want one that one man can handle. A self-liftmg plough is the thing just now. \Lay off your land in nice lines and, when finished, every inch will be cultivated."

In buying a tractor, the particular requirements had to be considered. Where large areas of orchard land were to be operated on, a large tractor could be used with advantage, but in after work, when the orchard was planted, a lighter tractor -would be found, very probably, to work better. There was, however, another class of tractor, several makes of which were obtainable, known as walking engines or garden tractors. They were run by 1 to 4 top. engines. , The i machine was small, light, and under easy control by the operator, and cultivation could be carried out much closer to the market garden or nursery plants than with a horse-drawn implement. For the small orchard and market garden or the. nursery these would seem to meet the bill, ag they would run a one-horse plough and take any and all the working parts used in connection with ordinary one-horse cultivators. They would work rows from 12in. wide, taking from one to three rows at a time, as desired. The little engine was capable of working a small circular saw, milkißg plant, corn crusher, washing machine, pump, or cream separator. It could also be attached to a light truck for odd carrying jobs about the orchard, nursery, or carden.