AGRDIOTOR NOTES.
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Demonstrations in Oxfordshire. The Fordson at Work in Kent.
The recent tractor demonstration held at Chipping Norton by thp tractor representative for the county, Mr. A. IL Hartwell, lasted two days and attracted several hundred farmers and others, not only from the county of Oxfordshire and adjoining Counties, but even from as far away as Ross, Swindon, Devizes, Taunton, Cardiff and Herefordshire. Several tractor representatives froin other districts were also present. The ploughing test took place a short distance from the town, on a field which had been under grass for 23 years. The nature of the soil varied considerably, being in some parts sticky, and in others consisting of heavy, clay.
Three types of tractor took part, in the demonstration, a 10-20 h.p. Titan, a 24 h.p. Overtime, and a 25 h.p. Alldays. All three of these tractors did really splendid work, ploughing to an average depth of € ins. arid pulling three and four-furrow Cockshutt ploughs and three-furrow Howard ploughs. Whilst all the tractors did well, there is no question but that the AlIdays attracted particular attention, owing to the flexibility and the silence of the engine. It was put through a small manceuvi'e, describing small-diameter figures of eight, both in the forward and reverse directions, in order to demonstrate thp exceptional lock and the adaptability of the tractor for negotiating awkward headlands.
On the road, too, the Alldays showodup well, its hauling capacity proving to be ample. It drew loads of four and five tons up a steep hill at a good five .miles per hour. The mechanism which locks the road springs out of action whilst ploughing was shown to take only a few seconds to adjust. The ballast tank, with a capacity for 1200 lb. of water, assist materially in giving adhesion.when driving on roads of any condition. The Alldays winding gear came in for general praise.
understand that Major Charles Howard has resigned his position as inspector of the Field Services Section of the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture after a long period of service, speaking comparatively, of course, for he has been connected with the department ever since its inception. He has as great a knowledge of the outdoor organization of the work as any other official, but feels that, for many reasons, it is not possible to continue in the post.
The set of illustrations on the next page deal with tractor operations in Kent and Buckinghamshire. The three illustrations numbered 1, 3 and 5 show the new Forclson (Henry Ford's tractor), now arriving in large weekly consignments, ploughing land in Kent, the uppermost picture being more than usually interesting, as it shows -four tractors, -each turning two furrows and working as a gang. The central and lower picture bring the onlooker nearer to the machine. Soldiers have been trained to drive the Fordson, and here are seen. doing a jab which in earlier days was regarded as calling for the trained hand and eye of the skilled ploughman. Although a certain number of farm hands have been relieved from military duties for pressing farm work, the man who
has picked up the driving of a tractor quickest has been the man with earlier motoring experience. In other words, it has been found easier to learn to control a plough if the pupil is already a bit of a motor man, than to learn to manage a motor having already a certain amount of ploughing skill.
Flanking the three pictures of the Fordson at work. are two vices showing some of the women who are now undergoing an eisht weeks' eo-urse of instruction in land work appertaining particularly to the use of the agricultural tractor. One illustration shows some of the pupils attending to the tractor, which as a stationary power plant is running a threshing machine, whilst the other shows a couple of "hands removing a sack of corn from the thresher. At the end of two months' instruction each .woman leaves with a " sufficiently practical knowledge of the working of the petrol engine in the cultivation of the land.