Category: Out and about

James Headrick wrote a detailed account of the agriculture of Angus for the Board of Agriculture and internal Improvement in 1813. He included an account of threshing mills and their use in that county. It makes for interesting reading:

“These are now very general in this county, on all corn farms which exceed a hundred acres in extent. When the flail is used for separating the corn from the straw, the barman gets one boll in twenty-one without, or one boll in twenty-five with, one meal a-day. But the threshing milll excels in expedition, and its superiority in point of clean threshing is such, that the barman’s allowance is supposed to be more than saved by employing it. Many attempts were made to construct threshing mills, on various principles; but the one which has succeeded best, and which, with only one exception, is universally used here, is that which was invented by Mr Meikle, when he was employed in constructing machinery by the late Mr James Stein, distiller at Kilbagie, near Clackmannan. This machine is so very common, that all description of it seems unnecessary. In this county threshing mills are commonly moved by horses; but where opportunity occurs, water is always preferred. A few of them are moved by wind, and there may be one or two near the coast moved by steam. The latter are used for grinding, as well as threshing corn.
Many attempts have been made to construct threshing mills with a one-horse power, so as to accommodate small farms. But these machines have not hitherto proved efficient with less than a four-horse power; and the generality of then in this county, are moved by six horses; or by a power equal to their strength. Such machines cost from about L140 to L180.
An artist at Arbroath has lately introduced into that neighbourhood, a threshing machine which is moved by two horses, and seems to do the work very well; only it does not thrash so much as a four, or six horse , machine, in a given time. In his machine, the length of the drum, or trundle, to which the beaters are fixed, is diminished, so that they cannot take in more corn at a time, than is proportioned to the power of two horses. The wheels and moving powers are all of cast iron, and it is merely Meikle’s machine reduced in its dimensions. This machine costs from L50 to L60. It seems probable, that by a still farther contraction of the drum, or trundle, these machines may be made to do sufficient work with one horse, or even with any inferior power; but it must be understood, that the quantity threshed in a given time, must always be proportioned to the original power applied. Thus Mr Meikle’s mill may be accommodated to small farms.
The ingenious Mr Stirling at Howmuir, near Forfar, had adopted a threshing mill, which bids fair to succeed on small farms. It was first invented in the neighbourhood of Dunblane, and the mode by which it is put in motion is exactly the same with that by which small corn mills are moved in the district of Uig, Island of Lewis, and in some other Hebridean Isles. It consists of a perpendicular shaft or axle, moveable on a pivot below, and having another pivot inserted intoa box in the upper part of the building. This upright shaft may be about twenty-five or thirty feet long, according to the height of the water-fall which puts the machine in motion. On the lower part of this shaft there is fastened a trundle of cast iron, about three feet, or two and a half diameter, which has thin and broad leaves extending from its centre to the rim which incloses their extremities. These leaves are bent, so as to make an angel of 45 degrees with the horizon, this being the angle by which the water is projected against them; and thus the water falls perpendicular to their surface. The water is conducted down a wooden spout, nearly perpendicular, from an elevation of eighteen or twenty feet and by striking against the leaves of the trundle, puts it, and the upright shaft fixed in its centre, into very rapid motion. Upon the floor through each the upright shaft rises, there is placed a circular wooden trough, about three or four feet high, and from eight to ten feet in diameter. Within this, four cross bars or levers, strongly fastened to the upright shaft, at right angles to each other, are swung round by the motion of the shaft round its axis. These are every way very similar to the scatters by which lint is dressed. A square aperture through the top of this trough, lined with sheet iron, admits the sheaves to be thrust down by the hand, and the corn is quickly knocked off by the scutchers, which are swung rapidly round. The straw drops down upon a wooden hack, or brander, in the bottom of the trough, where it is tossed round by a wooden lever, provided with a few iron spikes, until it drops the corn; and then it is thrown out at an oblique opening in the side of the trough. What passes through the brander, descends by an inclined plane, upon a riddling machine, which throws aside chips of straw, and coarse chaff. It then passes through the fanners, which are moved by the machinery; and being riddled and passed through the fanners a second time, the grain is ready for the market.
One disadvantage of this machine is, that the sheaf is not struck with the same force at all points, as happens with Mr Meikle’s horizontal knockers. For the velocity at different points of the scatters, being as the squares of they distances from the centre of motion, it is evident that the outside of the sheaf will be more forcible struck, than the parts nearer the centre. Another disadvantage is, that they have not yet contrived to make the machine feed itself; and feeding with the hand is subject to inequalities, sometimes the machine having too much, and sometimes too little. It seems, however, to answer well for threshing oats and barley; but it is not so well adapted for wheat. Perhaps this might be remedied, were a method found of making the machine feed itself. The whole expense of the machinery in this instrument does not exceed L20; but there must be a house built for it, at the bottom of a declivity, over which a fall of water can be brought, of from eighteen to twenty feet perpendicular altitude.”

The photographs of threshing were taken at the Daviot vintage rally, October 2018.

The county agricultural surveys contain a lot of detail about agricultural implements and machines. The account of Perthshire, written by James Robertson, includes the following account of ploughs and ploughing:

“The plough, used by many of the most knowing farmers, is that with the chain and curved old-baord generally of cast iron. Some very intelligent farmers, about the east bridge of Earn, reject the chain, but strengthen the beam with two lateral bars of iron, from the muzzle back to the great stilt or handle of the plough.
In Monteith some of the best farmers make use of an improved small Scotch plough, in preference to that with the cast iron old board invented by Mr Small at Ford, both on account of its lightness, and because it does not throw the furrow of clay land so much on its back. In stony land, the round share is most in use; in land, which is free of stones, the feathered share is preferred, on account of the neatness of the furrow; and indeed in tough or new land, no other share will cut the roots of grass and weeds, or turn over the surface, with the same ease or equal beauty.
The Scots plough is recommended by the Board of Agriculture, upon which the whole seems to be the most generally useful, that has hitherto been invented.
These four kinds of ploughs are drawn each by two horses; but in a great part of the country to which they account refers, the old Scotch plough, drawn by three or four horses, is still in use: and in some places the barbarous custom is not exploded, of yoking four horses a breast, and of driving them by a man going backward/ This practice appears very awkward and very much poaches the ground; yet they contend in their own defence, that the horses yoked in this manner act with greater power than otherwise; that the ground is in many places so full of large stones, are not to admit the long plough; that the driver, by having his eye at once on the horses and plough, can stop the draught more instantaneously and save the harness (gratis) better than in any other position; that they are under the necessity of keeping small horses, adapted to their pasture in the moors, and require more of them to execute the labour of a plough-gate of land. It is to be hoped, however, that by the increasing cultivation of sown grasses, their food for horses and other cattle will be more abundant; that a breed of larger horses will be employed; that two horse ploughs will be made use of, and all arguments in defence of horses yoked arrest become unnecessary. The saving in point of harness and horses, besides having only one man in place of two, is so great and so evident, in favour of two horse ploughs, that they are fast gaining ground, in every district of the county, and it is hoped will soon be universal.”

James Headrick wrote a comprehensive account of the implements and machines used in the county of Angus for the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement in 1813. While aspects of his account are noted for other counties in Scotland, there were also distinct features for the county of Angus. His account is worth quoting at length:

“Ploughs
In the northern district, the Old Scotch plough is still occasionally used, and it is an instrument well adapted for breaking up waste land, that is encumbered with the roots of shrubs, or with stones. At no remote period, it was usual to yoke four, or six horses abreast in this plough. The driver walked backwards before the horses, and struck them in the face to make them come forward. Now, this plough is commonly drawn by four, sometimes by six horses, which are yoked in pairs, and the driver walks beside them. But, excepting for the purposes already specified, the plough which was first invented by the late Mr Small near Dalkeith, and from him named Small’s plough, is universally used. It has a cast iron mould-board, which is sometimes made in parts, so that the portion which is most exposed to friction may be replaced, without needing to replace the whole. There are several variations in the form of the old board, so that those preferring those which are concave, and some this which are convex, or different intermediate forms between these extremes. This plough is constructed by skilful tradesmen in all parts of the county, and cost L2 or L2 6s. It is drawn by two horses, which are generally so trained that they obey the ploughman’s voice, and need neither reins or driver. oxen were formerly very much used in the plough; but they have been almost entirely given up on corn farms, as horses are more expeditious, and fit for many purposes for which oxen are ill adapted. Even the tax upon plough horses has not operated in favour of oxen, as horses are more general now, than they were before that tax was imposed. The ploughmen here are very skilful, and many of them have been carried to Ireland, and other districts, in order to improve their modes of ploughing.

Harrows -These are of three sorts, in this county: 1. the break harrow, is a strong and weighty instrument, and to give it great efficacy, is sometimes loaded. It consists of four heavy and strong hills, connected by cross spars. The teeth extend from six to eight inches below the hills; are bent a little forward; are of an angular shape, so as to resemble small coulters; and are so strongly wedged in the hills that they cannot turn. This instrument is drawn at one corner by two, three, or sometimes four horses yoked abreast, according to the soil on which it operates. Its teeth, as indeed of all the other harrows used, are so placed as to cut the land at equal distances. Its use is to break up and reduce adhesive soils while under fallow, and to tear up root-weeds. when the teeth are chocked by these weeds, the driver has a rope fastened to the rear of the harrow, with a cross stock, by which he can lift it up, and cause it to discharge its contents on the surface. In some cases, the break-harrow is in the form of a triangle, with a pair of stilts behind, by which the driver can press it deep into the ground, or can raise it so as to make it discharge the weeds it had collected. This latter construction seems to be a great improvement; but the break-harrow is not yet so universally used in this county as its merits seem to require.
2. The common harrow is the one used for covering in the seed, and for destroying annual weeds in fallows. They are drawn with one horse to each. A pair costs from L1 10s to L2 2s.
3. The grass-seed harrow, has teeth much shorter, and the instrument is not so strong as the common harrow. It is used for covering grass and clover-seeds; but sometimes the common harrow is used for this purpose; and sometimes a mass of thorn bushes, loaded by a weight.

Rollers- These are universally used, and they are sometimes constructed of a log of hard wood; but more generally of a sandstone fashioned into the form of a cylinder. In a few cases they are composed of old cart wheels, the rims of which are covered with spars of wood, and an iron axle passing through the centre, serves to connect the roller with the frame by which it is dragged along. This kind has commonly a hopper above, by which can be loaded at pleasure, or by which stones can be conveyed from the land. Other rollers consist of broad cylinders of cast iron, which seem to be the most effectual of any. The prices of these instruments vary with the materials, and the mode of their construction.

Drill barrows. These are used for sowing turnip, and other small seeds, in rows, or drills. For this purpose, some of the small farmers use a small triangular box of tin plate, the form of a hopper, into which the seed is put, and closed with a lid. This is fastened to the lower end by a stick which is shaken with the hand along a small ridge previously formed on the top of the drill, while the seed drops through a small aperture in the bottom of the top box.
The single drill-barrow is pushed along the drill with the hand, the drills being previously smoothed by the common roller. It forms a small rut for the reception of the seed; while a rake and small roller follow to cover it in. Other machines of this sort, sow two, three, and sometimes four drills at a time; have a roller in front to smooth the drills, and another behind to cover the seed; are drawn by a single horse, who walks in the hollow between two drills, and are guided by the ploughman, who walks behind. These machines cost various prices, from about one to six guineas.

Hoeing machines-These are, 1. the scarifier, which is a sort of Dutch hoe mounted upon a small plough, and drawn by a single horse. It cuts the annual weeds about two inches below the surface, and causes them to wither by the heat of the sun. Sometimes this instrument is composed of three angular hoes placed in the angles of a triangle, which form is preferred, as the two rear hoes can be varied in distance according to the breadth of the drills. These machines are regulated by wheels.
2. The double mould board plough, is a small plough, drawn by a single horse, whose mold-boards are moveable upon hinge, so that they can be extended at pleasure, by bars of iron crossing the rear of the plough. It is used for paring away the earth from the rows of drilled crops, and throwing it into the hollows between the drills. After the weeds are destroyed, the mold-boards being extended, it is used for throwing back the earth to the roots of the plants. The common hoe, and the hand, are used for eradicating such weeds as cannot be reached by these machines.

Carts-In proportion as the roads have been improved, single horse carts have become much more frequent than formerly. The double horse cart has one advantage in miry roads, that when the shaft horse and the cart are sticking in a puddle, the trace horse has generally cleared it, and can exert himself to drag the rear horse, together with the cart, out of the mire. but on firm roads, it is clearly ascertained that two horse, in separate carts,w which one many can easily manage, can draw a third more weight, with less injury to themselves or to the road, than two horses in one cart. The carriers betwixt Glasgow and Edinburgh commonly convey from a ton to thirty hundred hundred, upon a single horse cart; and they perform the journey of forty-two miles in about twenty-four hours. In this county, a single horse cart, or coup, as it is commonly called, is about five feet five inches in length, three feet five inches in breadth, and besides seventeen or eighteen inches in height. The price of a cart, for a single horse, or for a pair, varies from about L10 to L16, including the wheels, iron axle, and other appendages. The harness for a pair of horses, may cost about L5 more. The boards of the cart are now generally fastened to the shafts and spars by screwed bolts, which keep them much firmer than can be done with nails; and one set of these bolts will outlast several carts. For carrying corn in the straw, or hay, each cart is provided with a frame of wood, which is laid over its mouth, and enlarges the base on which the load is built. The large wagons which prevail in England, are not adapted for this hilly country; and it is demonstrable, that even on level roads, if they be firm below, single horse carts are the most economical way of applying animal force in the conveyance of goods.

Threshing mills-These are now very general in this county, on all corn farms which exceed a hundred acres in extent. When the flail is used for separating the corn from the straw, the barman gets one boll in twenty-one without, or one boll in twenty-five with, one meal a day, But the threshing mill excels in expedition, and its superiority in point of clean threshing is such, that the barman’s allowance is supposed to be more than saved by employing it. Many attempts were made to construct threshing mills, on various principles; but the one which has succeeded best, and which, with only one exception, is universally used here, is that which was invented by Mr Meikle, when he was employed in constructing machinery by the late Mr James Stein, distiller at Kilbagie, near Clackmannan. This machine is so very common, that all description of it seems unnecessary. In this county threshing mills are commonly moved by horses; but where opportunity occurs, water is always preferred. A few of them are moved by wind, and there may be one or two near the coast moved by steam. The latter are used for grinding, as well as threshing corn.
Many attempts have been made to construct threshing mills with a one-horse power, so as to accommodate small farms. But these machines have not hitherto proved efficient with less than a four-horse power;a nd the generality of them in this county, are moved by six horses; or by a powerful equal to their strength. Such machines cost from about L140 to L180.
An artist at Arbroath has lately introduced into that neighbourhood, a threshing machine which is moved by two horses, and seems to do the work very well; only it does not thresh so much as a four, or six-horse, machine, in a given time. In his machine, the length of the drum, or trundle, to which the beaters are fixed, is diminished, so that they cannot take in more corn at a time, than is proportioned to the power of two horses. The wheels and moving powers are all of cast iron, and it is merely Meikle’s machine reduced in its dimensions. This machine costs from L50 to L60. It seems probable, that by a still farther contraction of the drum, or trundle, these may be made to do sufficient work with one horse, or even with any inferior power but it must be understood, that the quantity threshed in a given time, must always be proportioned to the original power applied. Thus Mr Milk’s mill may be accommodated to small farms.
The ingenious Mr Stirling at Howmuir, near Forfar, has adopted a threshing mill, which bids fair to succeed on small farms. It was first invented in the neighbourhood of Dunblane, and the mode by which it is put animation is exactly the same with that by which small corn mills are moved in the district of Uig, Island of Lewis, and in some other Hebridean Isles. It consists of a perpendicular shaft or axle, moveable on a pivot below, and having another pivot inserted into a box in the upper part of the building. This upright shaft may be about twenty-five or thirty feet long, according to the height of the water-fall which puts the machine in motion. On the lower part of this shaft there is fastened a trundle of cast iron, about three feet, or two and a half feet diameter, which has thin and broad leaves extending from its centre to the rim which incloses their extremities. One disadvantage of this machine is, that the sheaf is not struck with the same force at all points, as happens with Mr Meikle’s horizontal knockers. For the velocity at different points of the scatters, being as the squares of their distances from the centre of motion, it is evident that the outside of the sheaf will more forcibly struck, than the parts nearer the centre. Another disadvantage is, that they have not yet contrived to make the machine feed itself; and feeding with the hand is subject to inequalities, sometimes the machine having too much, and sometimes too little. It seems, however, to answer well for threshing oats and barley; but it is not so well adapted for wheat. Perhaps this might be remedied, were a method found of making the machine feed itself. The whole expense of the machinery in this instrument does not exceed l20; but there must be a house built for it.”

A super account of the implements and machines used in Angus agriculture in 1813!

The photographs were taken at New Deer show, August 2014.

If you were at the Strathnairn vintage rally and working day you would have noticed a couple of machines and sundries from Kenneth McKenzie & Sons of Evanton: a bag opener and a turnip cutter.

Kenneth McKenzie of Evanton, Ross-shire, later Kenneth McKenzie & Sons, Evanton, was a noted implement maker in Ross-shire, whose name went well-beyond the boundaries of that county.

Alexander Shanks started his business in 1804. By two years later he had patented his first lawn mower’ lawn-mowers were to be closely associated with the Shanks name for made decades afterwards.

Alexander Shanks & Son was established in 1840 to manufacture steam engines, iron bridges and steam cranes. By 1849 the company described itself as “Alexander Shanks & Son, machine makers, Ogilvie Place, Arbroath”. It was to change its address a few years later in 1853 when it moved to Dens Iron Works where it remained until its closure well into the second half of the twentieth century. It was one of the earliest Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers to become a company limited by guarantee, which it did so by 1893.

The company was a forward and outward looking one. It was one of the few Scottish agricultural implement makers to have an address in London: it opened its Leadenhall Street office around 1860 (later Cannon Street by 1893). It also had a number of representatives, including J. C. Soutar, Uddingston, by 1904. It sold its manufactures around the globe.

In Scotland the company attended the Highland Show from 1852 until 1962. The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland gave it a commended award for its mowing and rolling machines at the show of 1859.
James Shanks had a number of patents, especially before 1878. These included:
1147 of 21 May 1855, to James Shanks, machinist, Arbroath, for an invention of ‘improvements in mowing machines’
1700 of 19 July 1859 to James Shanks, machinist, Arbroath, for an invention of ‘improvements in mowing machines’
3031 of 10 November 1862 to James Shanks, machinist, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in mowing machines’
1185 of 11 May 1863, to James Shanks, machinist, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvments in machinery for cutting or shearing the edges of grass or turf’
1185 of 11 May 1863, to James Shanks, machinist, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in machinery for cutting or shearing the edges of grass or turf’
982 of 2 April 1867, to James Shanks, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in cutting the hair of horses or other animals, and in the machinery or apparatus employed therefore’
2315 of 12 August 1867, to James Shanks, Arbroath, and John Cargill, Leadenhall Street, London, for the invention of ‘improvements in lawn mowing machines’
1517 of 25 May 1870 to James Shanks, Arbroath, for an invention of ‘improvements in wheels for traction steam engines and other heavy vehicles’
2869 of 30 August 1873 to James Shanks of Alexander Shanks and Son, Arbroath, and John Thyne, Arbroath, Manager to Alexander Shanks and Son, for the invention of ‘improvements in steam boilers’
631 of 16 February 1876, to James Shanks, for the invention of ‘improvements in portable steam cranes’
694 of 20 February 1877 to James Shanks and James Gordon Lyon, Forfar, for the invention of ‘improvements in machines for clipping the edges of turf on lawns, pleasure grounds, verges, and such like’
3237 of 25 August 1877 to James Shanks and James Gordon Lyon, Arbroath, for the improvement of ‘improvements in steam engines’
3237 of 25 August 1877 to James Shanks and James Gordon Lyon, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in steam engines’
2487 of 22 June 1878 to James Shanks and James Gordon Lyon, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in governors for motive-power engines’ )
4219 of 22 October 1878 to James Shanks and James Gordon Lyon, Arbroath, for the invention of ‘improvements in machinery or apparatus for excavating’.

The company made a wide range of lawn mowers. In 1910 it exhibited at the Highland Show the following models: petrol motor lawn mower, “Triumph” horse mower, for golf course, “Caledonia” lawn mower, standard gear lawn mower, “Talisman” lawn mower, “Britannia” lawn mower, “Britisher” lawn mower, and “pony” lawn mower. It also sold a selection of malleable castings for agricultural engineers, millwrights, coach builders, cartwrights, motor car builders, shipbuilders and machinists.

It also sold a range of oil engines. In 1910 they included a 2bhp, a 5 bhp, an 8 bhp, and a 14bhp. It also sold combined oil engines and pump.

The photographs of the Shanks oil engines were taken at Farming Yesteryear, September 2018.

The Board of Agriculture’s county surveys of 1793 to 1817 include detailed account of implements and machines. A number of surveyors include detailed accounts on the adoption and use of thrashing machines. In 1799 the surveyor of Perthshire provided a short and succinct account of the use of thrashing machines in the county. It is quoted below:

“Thrashing of corn by machinery has been practiced in this county for near half a century; and these machines are now coming fast into use. Their construction is various, according to the ingenuity of the maker. They are driven sometimes by water, but in most cases by horses. They thrash more or less in proportion to the weight of water or the number of horses employed in driving them. Mr Patterson of Castlehuntly, who introduced them into the Carse of Cowrie, has one, which is very uncommon, both for the quantity and excellence of its work. A farmer in Wester Lundie near Doune, of the name of Ferguson, is said to have invented a machine of this kind, very simple in its construction and very cheap; which are two considerations of importance to the common class of farmers. There are three erected already in the parish of Callander; and another about to be made soon. The three which have been made, cost each about L20. At the moderate calculation of one shilling per boll, either of these machines will repay their own expense by thrashing the first 400 bolls.
Fanners for cleaning grain have been long used by the most industrious of the farmers, and are to be met with, not only in every corn-mill, but almost in every barn, where the farm is more adapted for tillage than pasture.”

The name of John Wallace & Sons is a well-known and long established one among the Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers.

In the early 1940s the company had a business that extended throughout the major agricultural districts of Scotland. In 1942 an advert in the Scottish Farmer noted that the Glasgow based company (at Dennistoun) had branches at Perth, Aberfeldy, Edinburgh, Cupar, Laurencekirk, Wishaw, Carlisle, Oldham and Welwyn Garden City. By 1947 the company was listed as being at Glasgow and Welwyn Garden City and as having branches at Perth, Aberfeldy, Edinburgh, Cupar, Laurencekirk, Wishaw, Dumfries, Carlisle and Oldham. In 1952 the company’s branches were at Perth, Cupar, Stirling and Laurencekirk.

There were changes in how the company presented itself and how it was structured. There were a number of companies set up under the Wallace name.

By 1961 the company had changed its name to John Wallace & Sons (Agricultural Engineers, Glasgow) Ltd. It was to become John Wallace Agricultural Machinery Ltd after its incorporated on 23 November 1965 (and dissolved on 5 December 1973). An advert in the Farming News on 14 May 1965 noted that “John Wallace & Sons (A. E. G.) Ltd announce that the name of the company has been changed to John Wallace (Agricultural Machinery) Ltd, and are now operating from their new headquarters at Shell Park, Stirling. As previously announced spare parts enquiries are to be made to John Wallace Spares Division, Alloway Road, Maybole.

In addition, John Wallace Engineering Ltd was incorporated on 10 July 1964 (and dissolved on 30 December 1975). Further, John Wallace Farm Equipment Ltd was incorporated on 3 February 1965 (and dissolved on 30 December 1975). John Wallace Farm Equipment East Limited was incorporated as Thomas Sherriff & Company Ltd on 23 September 1941. Its parent company There was also a John Wallace Chemicals Ltd.

By the late 1960s John Wallace (Engineering ) Ltd was a holding company with 8 directors, and 2 shareholders, whose principal activity was the investment in and management of companies engaged in general engineering. In 1967 the subsidiay companies included Polarcold Ltd, Associated Metal Works Glasgow Ltd, Crawford Machinery Co. Ltd, John Wallace Mechanical Handling Ltd, Trucks & Pallets Scotland Ltd. All was not, however, well on the trading side by late 1968. In its annual return for October 1968 the company had a trading loss of £45,000. From 1 April 1969 the company was no longer trading; it was under a patent company, Stenhouse Holdings Ltd, which was incorporated in Scotland. By 1973 this had become Stenhouse Industries Ltd. Wallace was dissolved by notice in the Edinburgh Gazette on 30 December 1975.

John Wallace Farm Equipment Ltd, with a registered office at Shell Park, Stirling, and then at St Vincent Street, Glasgow, had a number of wholly owned subsidiaries. These were A. Baird & Sons Ltd, Alexander Jack & Sons Ltd, Thomas Sherriff & Co. Ltd, and Praills Hereford Ltd. By 1968 the first three of these were dormant companies. by 1971 the company was no longer trading. It too was also under the ultimate holding company of Stenhouse Holdings Ltd.

John Wallace Farm Equipment East discontinued its business activities in January 1967 and by 31 March 1969 its assets had been substantially realised. It was also under the holding company of Stenhouse Holdings Ltd.

By the second half of the 1960s the companies faced tough trading conditions – like the other Scottish implement and machine makers. A good many of them went under, including leading names like that of Wallace of Glasgow. Its company records show an interesting connections between companies as well as different business models and types of management.

In the early 1850s if you heard the name “Scoular’ you would have associated it with the company of Scoular & Co. agricultural implement makers at Haddington. In 1857 Mr Scoular retired in favour of Kemp, Murray & Nicholson of Stirling who had taken a lease of their premises and purchased the whole stock in trade, machinery, patterns and working plant.

By the early 1870s there were a number of members of the Scowler family around Stirling that worked as implement makers. James Scoular of Woodside, Kippen, made ploughs, drills as well as a collection of implements. There was also John Scoular of Crook Smithy, Stirling, who continued in business until at least 1910.

John Scoular was an important implement maker and was also internationally known. By the early 1870s his smithy had expanded into the Crook Implement Works where it became noted for its harrows, rollers, horse rakes and other implements. The trades carried on were as agricultural engineers. agricultural implement makers, engineers and iron founders, machinists, smiths and farriers. The company was a regular exhibitor at the Highland Show, exhibiting from 1871 until 1910. It exhibited around each of the show districts, exposing its implements to farmers throughout Scotland. It was also a regular advertiser in the Scottish farming press, especially the Scottish farmer from 1893 onwards.

The company was also an innovative one. From the early 1880s it was a frequent entrant to the Highland Society’s trials of implements and machines. In 1881 it entered at the trial of potato diggers and the trial of turnip lifters. In the following year it entered for the trial of horse rakes. In 1885 it entered for the trial of cultivator harrows as well as implements for the autumn cultivation of stubbles. In 1889, it entered in the trial of hay and straw trussers.

The North British Agriculturist gave a detailed description of John Scoular in 1893. It reads:

“Mr John Scoular is the fourth son of the late David Scoular, the well-known plough maker of Forest Mill, Clackmannanshire. Mr Scowler began business on his own account twenty-seven years ago, and pushed his trade with such energy that his name was soon known in all the principal agricultural districts of Great Britain, including Ireland and the remote islands of Scotland. After establishing a large home trade, he next turned his attention to export business, cultivating it with the same diligence, so that in a few years he formed connections in many different quarters of the globe. In 1881 he was invited by a number of the principal merchants and farmers of Natal, South Africa, to visit their colony and see their ways of cultivation for himself, so that he might better understand their requirements. He accepted the invitation, and on his arrival in Natal he received a warm welcome from his friends there, and profited greatly by his journey. Mr Scoular has also large dealings with the south-east of Europe, and he has travelled seven times there, visiting the extensive wheat plans of Bessarabia, Roumania, Bulgaria and Hungary. He claims he is now the largest harrow maker in Scotland. and there are few counties where his hay rakes cannot be found at work.”

If you see the name Scoular around the rally field you will know it is a long established and eminent one!

The photograph was taken at the Daviot vintage rally, September 2018.

One of the well-known Aberdeen implement and machine makers was Ben Reid & Co. It was also known for its nurseries and forestry business which it continued to undertake exclusively from 1906 onwards.

By the mid 1860s the business described itself as “Ben Reid & Co., agricultural implement makers, Bon Accord Works, Justice MillLane, Aberdeen. In 1867 it described itself as Ben Reid & Co., seedsmen, nurserymen and implement makers, Aberdeen. A decade later its addresses were at 16 Guild Street and Bon Accord Works, Justice Mills. By the mid 1890s it also had premises at Fettercairn and Laurencekirk.

The company undertook a wide range of trades in implement and machine makers, as an agricultural implement agent, a maker, engineer, engineer and millwright, galvanised merchant, garden chair maker, garden tool maker, horticultural builder, iron bridge builder, iron fence and hurdle manufacturer, iron founder, iron gate manufacturer, makchine maker, mechanical engineer, millwright, weigh bride maker, weighing machine maker, wire fence maker. and wire worker.

As an agent it associated itself with leading names of other implement and machine makers. In the 1860s they included Samuelson & Co., Banbury, Ransomes, Sims & Head, Ipswich, E. H. Bengal, Heybridge, Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole. J. & T. Young, Ayr, Shotts Iron Co. In the 1890s they included Massey Harris Co Ltd, London, Tangyes Ltd, Birmingham and Glasgow. It was a regular exhibitor to the Highland Show especially from the late 1860s onwards.

It was also an award-winning company, receiving a silver medal from the Royal Agricultural Society of England for its patent disc broadcast sower in 1872 and for its farmyard manure spreader. This was quite an accolade as few Scottish companies won medals form the Society. From that Society it also won a second prize for its improved heavy harrows in 1872. In Scotland it won a number of silver medals form the Highland Society. They included one for its lever drill in 1868, and its collection in 1870, 1871 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875 and 1876. It entered a number of its implements for the Highland Society’s trials. These included a broadcast manure distributor in 1884, manure distributer in 1886, and a grass seed sowing machine in 1887. Members of the company also held patents, including ons for improvements in straining or tightening wire in 1866, improvements in drill sowing machines, horse rakes and horse hoes in 1867, improvements in seed sowing machines in 1869, and an improved spanner or nut key in 1870.

William Anderson was one of the partners of the company. On 19 July 1893 the Scottish agricultural newspaper, North British Agriculturist, provided a short biography of him. It provides a good deal of information on the name and the company he was at at the helm of:

“Mr. Anderson of Messrs Ben Reid & Co., Bon-Accord Works, Aberdeen, is one of the best known and most highly-respected leaders in the ranks of the agricultural engineers. Mr Anderson has risen from the ranks, for his father was a country blacksmith, and he learned that trade with his father. His energies, however, could not find full scope in a country smithy, and before long he became the travelling representative of Messrs Murray & Co., agricultural implement makers, Banff, and by his characteristic energy and good management he soon wrought that business up to a very flourishing state. His marked success and sterling qualities soon attracted the attention of Mr George Reid, who had joined the business established by his uncle, Mr Ben Reid, and on the retirement of the latter gentleman had become the partner in the firm of Ben Reid & Co. This business was originally confined to the seed trade, but the implement department, grafted upon it shortly afterwards, expended so rapidly that the seed business was formed into a separate business under different properties, all the resources of the Bon Accord Works being taxed to the utmost to supply the demands upon them for agricultural implements. In 1876, Mr George Reid decided to select two partners, who, as he felt certain, would be able to make the Bon-Accord Works an enduring monument to the memory of their founder, Mr Ben Reid, and his selection fell upon Mr Anderson and Mr Garvie. These gentlemen closed with this invitation, and since the death of Mr George Reid, in 1879, they have been the sole partners in the firm. The Bon-Accord Works are among the most extensive of the kind in the united Kingdom, and they are splendidly equipped with machinery of the most modern and most approved construction, many of the machines used in these works being the products of the inventive genius of Messrs Anderson & Garvie. In addition to a very large home business, the firm conduct an immense foreign business, and in every country under the sun, where improved methods of cultivation are used, there are the products of the Bon-Accord Works are well known and highly appreciated. Their principal products are the Bon-Accord reapers and ploughs, threshing machines, seed drills, and broadcast sowing machines. They also do a large business in the manufacture of ornamental fences and gates. Mr Anderson regularly attends all the leading shows in the United Kingdom, so that he is better known to the show-goers than Mr Garvie, who is constantly at the head of the business conducted in the works. Mr Anderson is a gentleman of a very marked individuality and robust independence. He is no supple-tongued salesman, who can talk any unwilling purchaser into buying his goods. On the contrary, he stands secure in the high reputation which his firm have long been held for the excellence of their products; and while he displays his goods in the most attractive style, and has a pleasant word for every one, he makes a very strict point of avoiding any appearance of pressing sales: and any cheap jack who attempts to beat down his prices invariably gets short shrift at his hands. It is safe to say also that no one stands higher in the estimation of his fellow exhibitors than he does, and a good proof of that is found in the fact that for four years in succession he was unanimously elected President of the Scottish Agricultural Engineers, from which post he retired only two years ago, and only a few weeks ago he was unanimously elected President of the Royal Tradesmen in Aberdeen.

Ben Reid & Co. – an eminent agricultural engineering company from the second half of the nineteenth century whose activities continued until 1907.

Headstones can provide a great deal of information about people and their past lives, of families and their relations and employment. Some of the older gravestones, especially from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, have elaborate decorations. These include pictures of rural life.

One such gravestone is at Skipness in Argyll. It includes an engraving of a plough team using the Old Scotch plough. This plough required to be pulled by a number of oxen, cows or other animals. In the gravestone the plough team comprises four oxen, working as two pairs. The plough would have been made of mouldboard. There is one ploughman (who looks like he is having to work hard). Usually there would have been another to help to guide the draught animals.