A big name in harrows

If you were looking to purchase a set of harrows in the 1890s one name that would have come to mind was John Scoular & Co., Crook Smithy, Stirling.

According to the North British Agriculturist in 1893 John Scoular was “the fourth son of the late David Scowler, the well-known plough maker of Forest Mill, Clackmannanshire. Mr Scoular began business on his 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 plains 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.
Think harrow, think Scoular!