THE TRACTOR POSITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3337, 27 February 1918, Page 11

THE TRACTOR POSITION.

i The latest reports with reference the I work of the tractors received by the Food- ' production Department at Home are full of interest. Some of the figures seem very good and evince marked improvement on the early attempts of getting land ploughed and seeded. The Herefordshire report to the end of November is noteworthy in some respects. The tractors of the Hereford Tour Unit averaged throughout the month 14 acres per week per machine. For the week ending November 30 one of the Hereford tractors ploughed 48 acres |in about 50 hours. In tho preceding four weeks this same tractor did 20i acres, 20£ ! acres, 18 acres, and 21f acres.—or an average of 25§ acres per week for five weeks. Competition in Herefordshire between the . various tractors is said to' be extremely ! keen and there has been a certain amount of laoonlight ploughing. One of the tractors in the Ross unit ploughed 31 acres, and six tractors of the same unit in the week ending November 23 averaged over 23 acres. Some very good figures indeed come from Gloucestershire for the week ending November 23. One tractor ploughed 34 acres in 60 hours, and 'the Boufton-on-the-Water unit averaged acre3 per tractor. The Isle of Ely tractors for November averaged 18 acres per week; those of Cambridegshire Hi. In the week ending November 23 the average for the Isle of Ely was 13 2 3rd acres, for Cambridgeshire 15 acres, and for Hunts 16| acres. In the sameweek the Shropshire average was 11.59 acres, and that for Staffordshire llf ac«es. The best week's work done by a Staffordshire tractor was 22 acres ploughed; other tractors in Staffordshire did, 17 and .18 acres. The Hampshire tractors- for the week ending November 23 ploughed an average of 13.09 acres, or 2.18 acres per tractor per working day. In Dorset the average was acres. The Warwickshire for the week ending November 23 averaged nine and three-quarter acres per tractor, /the average for the weeks being eight and a-half acres per tractor. * The tractors in/ Northumberland .for the last week reported an average of about 13j[ acres—" the best week's work so far done ,in the county " since the tractors have been there. - ? There has tjeen a goodi deal of exaggeration in some parts of the country about the cost of tractor-ploughing. A case in point is reported |rom Breconshire,'.where it was stated that "something like £3O per acre had been scent on ploughing a 16-acrc field." Investigation of the story shows that the total cost, including depreciation, salaries of officials, etc., worked out at £1 14s 9d per acre. This figure is high, of course, but it is explained that the field was a most difficult one, and that 10 acres out of 16 had to be ploughed one way. The Radnorshire Executive decided to publish the figures " for the benefit of farmers generally." , In East Suffolk during the week a total of acres were' ploughed by the tractors and 30 acres cultivated. In West Suffolk 289 acres were ploughed, the average being 12 acres per tractor. In this area the tractors are still being kept on the clay lands, so as to get as much as possible of the heavier lands dealt with before they move on to the light lands for the winter.

The Norfolk tractors ploughed 976 acres in the week, and cultivated 113. In "the North Riding of Yorkshire the tractors ploughed 337.5 acres of arable and 57 acres of grass, and cultivated 102 acres —a total of 496.5 acres, and an average of 12.73 acres per tractor. In the Holland division of Lincolnshire, for the week ending November 23, 213 acres were ploughed by 11 tractors, being an average of nearly 20 acres per tractor. In reporting these figures the local Commissioner says: "Having regard to 'the shorter days, this record may be regarded as verv creditable, even in a county where conditions are particularly favourable." In the Louth district (Lindsey, Lines.) one tractor ploughed 33 acres in the week —" the best record yet in Linsey" ; and another did 24- acres. Tractors in the Brigg and Rasen districts ploughed 21 £ and 20 (2) acres. The Lindsey average for the week was 12£ acres per tractor, and the total amount ploughed was 428 acres. For the week ending November 30 in Kent 7194 acres were ploughed by tractor, and < some C 6 tractors were working. As evidence of the satisfactory progress in some sections it is pointed out by Mr Bulbeck, machinery officer for East Kent, that the Canterbury unit averaged 18 acres for the week. For the week ending November 23 over 707 acres were turned over. The average for the week ending November 30 was 12 acres per tractor. <* t The record in the United Kingdom for one week's ploughing by _ a Government 'tractor stands to the credit of the Hereford unit. No fewer than 48 acres of land has been ploughed in one week, a great performance, having regard to/ the whole of the facts. An Overtime tractor and a Cockshu'tt three-furrow plough were used. The previous best return for the United Kingdom was 40 acres in one week, executed on a farm near Doncaster during tho week ending "October 20 with a Mogul tractor.

j With respect to the British record of i 48 acres, the men had two road moves with ! their machines during tho week, and to run on the road it is necessary to remove the spuds or strakes on the wheels, and refit them when on the land. This means two hours for each operation; therefore much delay. The tractor ran perfectly all the week with the exception of minor troubles due to two broken breasts on the plough through coming in contact with stones (a loss of four hours), and fitting new shares to replace those worn out. The men finished off .the headlands as well as the cops. One hundred and thirty-seven gallons of paraffin. 12 gallons of oil, four gallons of petrol, and 41b of grease were used during the week. The tractor has done consistently good work I for 13 weeks.