PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF TRACTOR CULTIVATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3400, 14 May 1919, Page 10

PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF TRACTOR CULTIVATION.

As is "well known, the so-called Government tractor scheme was instituted'in consequence of submarine warfare necessitating the growing of corn against time in the British Isles. A beginning was made in the spring of 1917. Tractors of all types were purchased and made available in each county. They were manned mainly by soldiers, and they were kept running by the proprietors of the provincial motor garages. Captain G. T. Hutchinson, in the Journal of the English Board of Agriculture, supplies some varied information in connection with the initial difficulties. The farmers were reluctant to employ an untried and suspected means' of cultivation. The work could not wait for suitable weather or soil conditions. At one time more than 20 types of tractors were employed by the Government, and the trouble of providing spare parts and the repairing of each type may be imagined. Towards the end of last year, however, it was possible to reduce the types to six, and to ensure the supply of spare parts. In some counties it proved feasible to loan the tractors to individual firms to operate as private enterprises, this proving in many respects better than when conducted by Government employees. To summarise briefly the results of the scheme, it may be said that in every instance the counties were able to carry out their programmes for increased corniproductiion. It assisted them to reap their harvest, and it has introduced a new and highly efficacious means of cultivation to the farmers. Of course,' the capabilities of a tractor in the hands of a farmer and when worked as a Government tractor were dissimilar in material respects. The points of difference may be conveniently grouped under five headings. First, there are the working expenses. The exigencies of the situation required that the Government tractors should be avail-, able wherever they were required, and there were some 4000 Government tractors, with their crews, scattered in billets all over the various counties. Machinery troubles, etc., necessitated a host of officials, which, in the case of privatelyowned tractors, disappear. The second point to be considered is the question of repairs. Most of the tractors operated by the Government were American built and petrol-driven. Petrol could not be spared, but paraffin was available, and the,tractors _were hastily adapted and worked with paraffin, with consequent excessive wear in engine parts. Spare parts were difficult to secure, many being sent to the bottom of the Atlantic. The peace-time tractor will not suffer from this handicap. A third point is the difference in the nature of the work which the Government tractor and the farmer's tractor are required to perform. The most unsuitable land somehow was invariably allotted to the Government tractors. Much of this work has not been ploughing, but reclamation. The Government tractors carried out some astonishing performances last spring. They dug themselves deep into the Midland clay ; they broke implements innumerable on the concealed rocks and boulders of the West country, and they skidded vainly about the hillsides of Wales and the North. Fatal accidents were not unknown, but land was ploughed—at a cost—and crops were grown; it was " magnificent, but not agriculture." No doubt this reclamation work has already justified itself, and the average farmer will not purchase a tractor to reclaim land, but to plough. A fourth point of difference is labour. At the end of the spring cultivations in 1917 the Food Production Department was operating about 600 tractors. At the same period in 1918 it had over 4000. The Food Production Department had to find men and. .women and train them. Another advantage which the farmer's tractor will have over the Government tractor is that the farmer will be able to attach it to the plough or harrow most in favour in his particular country, but the Government had to purchase in bulk in America in order to carf-y out Government cultivation without unduly curtailing the supply available for individual farmers.

It remains to consider what profitable conclusion can be drawn from the experience of the Government tractor scheme as to the possibilities of tractor cultivation. In the first place it is established (says the Commissioner) that to obtain the best economic results from the tractor it should be in the hands of the farmer, and should not leave his farm, except, perhaps, to assist his immediate neighbours, in cases where such an arrangement is possible. The statement of weekly averages shows that few counties maintained an average of 10 acres' ploughing per week per tractor in commission, or a fuel consumption below five gallons per acre. In nearly every county, however, a Fordson tractor, with a self-lift plough, has ploughed over five acres in the day under favourable conditions in the hands of one reasonably competent man or woman. The same tractors have frequently cut _ upwards _of 15 acres in the day with a binder, which would not be exceeded by two teams of three horses working in two shifts. It has also been proved that in every county

that the quality of the work done by tractors can be perfectly satisfactory. Plenty of bad work has been done by tractors owing to a variety of reasons, but the best testimony in their favour is the verdict of the farmer, and, whereas a year ago it was necessary to canvass for orders for work for the limited number of tractors available, to-day in practically every county the tractors are scarcely able to carry out the daily increasing number of contracts for ploughing. It is now realised that the tractor enables the farmer to cultivate at the right time, and the importance of this will be appreciated by every practical farmer. The tractor provides a reserve of cultivating strength which eats nothing and costs nothing when it is not employed. For example, during the. past summer at Home many farmers were able to employ all their horses for leading-in their earliest corn crops, while the later ones were being cut with tractor and binder, and by this means to complete their harvest before the weather broke. The same men could then plough their stubble with the tractor while their horses were still leading-in the later crops. Without tin's additional ' strength' it is -conceivable that in a spell of wet weather much corn might be spoilt, and many idle weeks spent waiting to plough sodden stubbles. There is always a certain period of the year when the soil is in the proper state for ploughing. It is then possible to plough better and deeper, leaving the ground in good condition for subsequent cultivation, and for preparation of a seed-bed which will give the best yield. If this opportunity is lost because the normal strength of the farm is otherwise employed, it cannot easily be recovered —on the heavier soils it may mean a year's delay,—but with the tractor it need not be lost. It is a notable fact (says our authority) that in some counties, in spite of- the wet autumn, work on the farms is actually more advanced to-day than it was at this time last year, thanks to the tractor.

It has often been asked, Which is the best sort of tractor to buy? The Food Production Department, we are informed, employed more than 20 different types, all of which have their good and bad points. Six types have now been retained, but in eliminating certain machines the possibility of running an adequate. supply of spare parts for the types retained was an important consideration. Of these the Titan has done excellent work under the most variable conditions. It has ploughed on hillsides and in holding clays, and used as a stationary engine- to thrash, to cut chaff, or work a saw. Another "general utility" tractor is the Overtime, which has, in the hands of private owners, given satisfaction. Britishmade tractors include the Clayton Shuttleworth, the Saunderson, the 25 h.p. Mogul, all of which have done excellent work. They are powerful, and more expensive than some of the other tractors. The Fordsons (says the report) is probably the cheapest tractor on the market, and if its limitations are recognised it is the best labour-saving device which the farmer can obtain. It is the only Government tractor equipped with a self-lift plough, and can, therefore, be worked by one man. It is not yet a "general utility" tractor, as it may prove to be too light to be used effectively as a stationary engine, but for the purpose of cultivating it is an acknowledged success. It is often said that it is unsuitable for heavy land, but its success in Essex and other heavy land counties has led its adherents to believe that, when heavy land is in the proper condition for ploughing, the Fordson can plough it, and when it is not, it is best to leave it alone. No fewer than 2500 of these tractors have already been purchased by private owners—a fact which indicates the farmer's opinion of its merits. " Though criticism of the tractor scheme," says Mr Hutchinson, in conclusion, "is by no means unknown, there are no two opinions as to the value of the work of the 'tractors, and it only rests with the farmer to take advantage of what is probably the widest form of practical demonstration ever carried out by an agricultural department."