Displenishing sales provide an insight into the implements and machines that were being used on a farm when the tenant was leaving a particular farm. They can show the type of agriculture practiced as well as the range of implements and machines used. They can also show whether the Farm was using new and innovative ones or were relying on older ones.
By the late 1940s farm mechanisation was making in-roads on Scottish farms. There was an emphasis on tractor power and using a wide-range of implements and machines for crop and animal husbandry, though horse power and horse-drawn implements still continued to be used. Some farms invested in tractors with their associated name-sake implements and machines.
The following displenishing sale notices for farms in north-east Scotland show the level of mechanisation on these farms, the different types of implements and machines as well as in some cases their makers – who tended to be leading and well-known ones.
Mains of Bellyhack, Botriphine, Keith, on 11 October 1947 (Aberdeen press and journal, 8 October 1947)
Implements- Fordson Major (rubbers and straiks, 1946), tractor plough (Sellars, B.D.F.), tractor grubber, tractor yokes, tractor tipping bogie on rubbers (Standfast, as new), Bisset binder (tractor attachments), 4 single ploughs, 2 drill do., 3 sets iron harrows, 2 sets wooden do., 3 drill harrow, 1 3-drill harrow horse grubber, broadcast sower, manure sower (Auchinachie and Simpson), turnip sower (Sellars), metal roller, 2 stone do., mower (Wallace, as new), reaper, 3 box carts and frames, wood do., and creels, 2 sledges, cart body, horse lorry (rubber tyred), 2 box barrows, peat do., sack do., barn fan, Bessemer and weights, oilcake breaker, 5 ladders, wire strainer, horse rake (in good order), corn sizer, 230 gal), paraffin tank 25 gal., do, portable henhouses, chicken coops, harness for 2 pair horses; also ploughing match set of harness (good), Clydesdale Stud Book and a large quantity of minor hand tools, dipper, Cooper swing bath, 12 rolls pig wire, quantity wire netting and fencing posts, rails, stack kilns, etc.
Meetlaw, Drumlithie, on 21 October 1947 (Aberdeen press and journal, 16 October 1947)
Implements- box cart with tops (rubbers), long cart on rubbers, turnip sower, 110a plough, D.B. plough, 3 drill scrapers, S.T. harrows, Planet cultivator, circular harrows, 9ft metal roller, harrows, chain harrows, barrow, 2 cattle troughs, 2 ladders, steelyard and weights, bushel, potato bagger, riddle and stand, stack cover, sowing sheet, Esparto rope, scythe, lanterns, riddles, graips, shovels, picks, forks, hoes, Mell wire strainer, bosses and props; also harness for 2 horses and 2 stacks of hay, and the usual minor hand tools.
Laes of Arbuthnott, Fordoun, on 25 October 1947 (Aberdeen press and journal, 16 October 1947)
Implements – 3 box carts on rubbers, long cart on rubbers, Johnston binder, Bamford mower, Bamford rake, Jay paddock, Garvie broadcast, McCormick driller, Blackstone potato digger, Sellar turnip sower, 2 horse grubber, Ransome cultivator, S.T. harrow, 2 metal rollers, 3 single and 3 D.B. ploughs, 2 brake iron harrows, 2 scrapers, turnip cutting cart, turnip hasher, barn fan, steelyard and weights, grindstone, sack barrow, bushel and straik, ladders, 20 rolls sheep netting, potato boxes, 2 stack covers (15×15), portable henhouses, 3 stacks of hay, harness for two pairs horses, sundry tools etc.
Touxhill, Auchnagatt, on 8 November 1947 (Aberdeen press and journal, 28 October 1947)
Implements-Fordson tractor with belt pulley, 6ft Massey-Harris binder, tractor cart, tractor grubber, hay sweep, spring tine harrows, Martin cultivator, Massey-Harris tractor plough, tractor harrows, 3 box carts, 3 sets C. and P. harness. 2 manure distributors, T.S.M.P. plough, shim, iron harrows, chain harrows, scarifier, Moulder turnip sower, stack posts, steelyard and weights, potato sculls, scythes, spades, graips, shovels, brushes, forks, hammers, wire stretcher, mall, coir yarn, turnip hasher, stack cover, ladders, barrows, pails, lanterns, smithy bellows, anvil, vie, 1 200 gallon paraffin drum, 5 50-gallon paraffin drums.
Trees, Netherley, Stonehaven, on 8 November 1947 (Aberdeen press and journal, 31 October 1947)
Tractor implements- 10.20 International tractor, David Brown tractor (both on rubbers with pulley and power take-off and fitted with lights), spare 12 in pulley for International, front and wheel rear wheels for David Brown tractor, set of Bower straiks to fit 11.25×24 centres, pair of chains for tractor rear wheels, Massey-Harris grain and fertiliser combine (15 row almost new), Massey-Harris 2 furrow plough, set of harrows and yoke, set of rollers, set of heavy rollers, Bisset binder (5 ft cut, with converted handles), Deering binder (5ft cut), spring tooth harrow, 3 drill (Ogg, Muchalls), ridger fitted for a David Brown tractor, tractor bogie, Ransome cultivator, Jack manure distributor, Wallace potato digger, body, wheels and screw for a tractor cart, endless mill belt, circular saw.
Horse implements-2 box carts (1 on rubbers), 2 long carts, Hoosier driller (15 row), Deering horse rake, Sellar turnip sower, Albion mower, Sellar grubber, 2 sets chain harrows, 110a plough, Sellar plough, 2 scrapers, 2 stone sledges, 3 wheel hurley, hay paddock, snow plough, Wolseley power clippers (almost new), Cooch potato dresser (almost new with filling and bagging elevators, complete with 1 1/2hp Petter engine), potato riddles, sculls, boxes, 2 potato graips, box barrow rubber wheel, sheep troughs, ladders, steelyard and weights, bushel and straik, scythes, graips, forks, hoes, stack covers, 5 spare clothes for Deering binder, posts and wire, netting wire, turnip slicer, 200 gallon paraffin drum, binder fingers and the usual minor implements, 4 Glevum incubators (150 egg size), 8 hovers, 7 henhouses (12ft x 8ft, weather boarding and slated floors, complete with nests and feeders), henhouse (8ftx10ft), brooder house (16ftx16 1/2ft), brooder house (12ftx8ft), water fountains, feeders, etc, harness for 3 horses.
