POWER FARMING.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18168, 5 November 1930, Page 2

POWER FARMING.

PASSING OF THE HORSE. WONDERFUL MODERN MACHINERY. AN ILLUSTRATED LECTURE. Agriculture in all its phases and through the ages formed the subject of an Intensely interesting illustrated address at the Winter Show Hah, Hamilton, last night, by Mr A. G. Fordham, one of the field engineers of John- Deere and Company, agricultural implement makers. The hull was packed with farmers and farm students who expressed their thanks do the speaker for the wealth of information given them. The gathering was presided over by Mr F. JA lengthy series of lantern, slides and a number of cinematograph films were thrown on the screen. These showed farming under varying conditions in different countries. They demonstrated more than any number of words could, the immense advantage .of power farming over the old manual add primitive methods. One very fine film entitled “Grass,” illustrated the difficulties of the life of the Tribes in Asia Minor, where, owing to the lack of knowledge of modern land methods, immense migrations take place over rivers and rqugh ' mountain ranges several times yearly .amidst great suffering and sacrifice of human and animal life. These conditions contrasted greatly with the wonderful grain Operations in the grain fields of Canada and Australia, and in the large cropping belts of the United States, where the most modern machinery is used and where the saving in time and labour is very marked. Mr Fordham emphasised the economies of power farming as he showed many wonderful machines at work ploughing, digging, harrowing and hay and ensilage malting. Not the least interesting was a tour through John Deere and Company’s extensive works at Moline, Illinois, where the factories of the company extend for eight miles along the Mississippi and where 35,000 hands are employed. As an indication of the thoroughness with which the designers of modern agricultural implements enter upon their work, he stated, that they cooperated to a very large degree with agricultural scientists. He gave one instance of this in the. production of hay-making machinery. It had been discovered, he said f that 65 per cent of the nutriment of pastures lay in the leaf and not in the stem. It was also ascertained that in cutting grass for hay the ordinary mower so operated as to expose the leaf to the' sun when it wilted considerably and lost much of its colour and value as hay. The designers of the mowers therefore set to work to try and obviate this with the result that a combined mower and rake was designed with a side delivery, which turned the leaf underneath and merely exposed the stem. The modern combination of mower and stacker effected a'saving of 40 per cent in .time and labour in hay-making over -the early machinery used. It was recognised that the law of economics must operate if the farm was to be profitable ahd thus it came about that farm economists figured out there was a point up to which horse and man power could be utilised economically. Beyond that point the returns dwindled unless power, farming' was resorted. to*. ... . The audience listened patiently to the, lecturer for over two hours

were -afterwards served with refreshments, when hearty thanks were tendered the speaker.