Category: Out and about

A number of the implement makers held a range of formal events of the work staff. These include visits, dances and other events in the community. They were much looked forward to.

We have attached a number of accounts of these social events from 1900 onwards. They provide a range of insights into the human side of the businesses and their employees and how they came together.

One business that had arranged a number of events for its staff was Ben Reid & Co., Aberdeen. It held a range of annual events. An account from the Aberdeen Press and Journal on 10 February 1900 also provides information on the development of the business:

“The annual assembly of the employees of Messrs Ben Reid and Co., engineers, nurserymen, and seedsmen, was held in the Trades Hall, Aberdeen, last night, under the presidency of Mr Alex Hay. There was a large attendance, and amongst those present were Mr Geo. Duncan, manager of the engineering works, and Mr Morrison Barclay, implement maker. After tea had been served, The Chairman, in the course of some remarks, said he had many pleasant recollections in connection with the Bon-Accord Works, and those employed and associated with them. His recollections went back for about forty years, and before the Bon Accord Works, where they now stood, were built. The engineering department of the firm was founded about 42 years ago by Ben. Reid and Co., seedsmen and nurserymen, a firm that had been in existence for about a century. The implement and engineering works were started in a small way, and carried on under the able management of the late respected Mr Geo. Reid, with whom for many years he was closely associated. The connecting link of the combined business was broken on Mr Geo. Reid’s death in 1881, and they were carried on separately for about sixteen years. After the decease of Mr Anderson-who at the time of his death was sole partner of the Bon Accord Works-the firm purchased the engineering establishment from Mr Anderson’s trustees in 1896, so that the business of seedsmen, nurserymen, and agricultural engineers was again combined and consolidated. In conclusion, the chairman said it was very gratifying to the firm that they had such a body of first class, reliable, and capable workmen in all the departments. (Applause). A most enjoyable programme of songs etc was then gone through, being contributed to by Miss Gordon, Miss B. Bruce, Miss E. Willox, Misses W. Wilson, Griffan, W. McWillie, and W. Murdoch. The accompaniments were tastefully played by Miss Bremner. At the close of the concert dancing was taken part in, the duties of M.C.’s being ably discharged by Messrs Kinnaird, Robertson, Cormack, and McHardy. The success of the function was in a great measure due to the admirable arrangements made by the committee, with Mr W. Mitchell as secretary.”

In July 1915 Newlands and Sons of Linlithgow arranged an excursion for the workers. These excursions were commonplace in central Scotland. They tended to go to fairly local places. They could enjoy the journey and the place where they visited. The Linlithgowshire Gazette of 23 July provides a favourable account of the excursion:

“On Saturday last the employees of Messrs Newlands and Sons, agricultural implement makers, along with their friends, enjoyed the first excursion organised by the firm, when their venue was Callander, which they reached in Mr Galbraith’s motor char-a-banc. They were lucky enough to be favoured by weather which was good, and kept steadily favourable throughout the whole day, when they were journeying through the beautiful country to their destination. A halt was made at Stirling, giving the party an opportunity to wander through this historic town. The day’s outing was voted thoroughly enjoyable.”

Newlands and Sons also contributed to the annual festival in Linlithgow. In June 1929 the Linlithgowshire gazette recorded its contribution to the march:”… The advent of the employees of Messrs Alexander Newlands and Sons Ltd, implement makers, in the ranks of the Marchers’ procession was an occasion for the introduction of something new. This took the form of an agricultural “tractor” and motor lorry, the latter being bedecked with artistically arranged paper colours and models of agricultural implements. Mottoes were legion, and included “Speed the Plough”. “Good equipment makes a good farmer better”. “Roll our way”. The “tractor” was “manned” by two men and a gaily attired fair lady. This was an outstanding display.”

Social events also included an annual dance and wist drive. Whist drives were extremely popular social events in the past. Sellars of Huntly were one business that held an annual staff social. The Aberdeen Press and Journal provided an amount of the social in December 1936:

“Guests at the annual whist drive and dance of the employees of Messrs George Sellar & Son, agricultural implement makers, Huntly, which took place in Huntly Hotel Hall, were welcomed by Mr Robert T. Sellar on behalf of Mrs Sellar and himself. He remarked that since they met a year ago industry in the country generally had been prospering, and unemployment figures were very much reduced. Farmers were finding it very difficult to get labour, as many men had gone into the military and air service, and consequently there had been a bigger demand for tractors.”

Another business that had an annual dance was Barclay, Ross and Hutchison, agricultural implement makers and seedsmen, Aberdeen. An account of its annual dance from the Aberdeen Press and Journal on 20 February 1937, suggests that this was given to thank the staff for their support during the year. It appeared to be a much enjoyed event:

“The staff of Messrs Barclay, Ross and Hutchison, agricultural implement makers and seedsmen, Aberdeen, were thanked for the loyal support and co-operation they had given during the year by Mr T. Hutchison last night, on the occasion of the staff’s annual dance. A company of about 140 enjoyed whilst, supper and dancing in the Palais de Danse. Mr T. Hutchison presided at supper, and along with him were Mr M. Heddle, county road surveyor, and Mrs Heddle; Mr G. Donald, lecturer in the principles of agriculture, and Mrs Donald; and Mr A. A. Girling. Mrs Hutchison handed over the whist prizes to the following-women- 1. Mrs D. Kinghorn, 2. Mrs G. Watt, 3. Mrs N. Salmon, 4. Miss C. Reid (after a tie with Mrs A. McCombie); consolation, Miss M. Cruickshank. Men-1. A. Smart, 2. Gordon Watt, 3. T. Hutchison, 4. A. Farquharson (after a tie with A. A. Girling); consolation, E. Dawson; travelling prize, A. Smart. For their interest in the gathering and the staff, Mr and Mrs Hutchison were cordially thanked on the call of Mr Girling. The arrangements were made by a committee, of which Mr A. Rae was secretary.”

Do you recollect any social events with the implement makers?

By the 1790s the “Agricultural Revolution” had been underway in Scotland for a number of decades. Fields were being enclosed and levelled, trees planted; the appearance of the landscape was being radically altered. With this change there started to be some technological changes in the tools and implements made. The most significant was the development of the iron plough – ploughs made all of iron rather than wood and wood and iron – which was drawn by the two horses rather than the team of oxen. 

During this “Agricultural Revolution” there emerged a small number of agricultural writers who commented on the process of change, their observations on the new practices and gave advice to farmers and landowners on the improvement process. The most noted was Lord Kames, Henry Homes, renowned for his book “The Gentleman Farmer: being an attempt to improve agriculture, by subjecting it to the test of rational principles”. It was first published in 1776. It was to become a best-seller, going through 6 editions from that time until the early 1800s. No other Scottish agricultural book managed that feat. In that book Kaimes shows himself to be a practical farmer and to have given great consideration to agriculture and developing a set of rational principles on which it could operate. His book includes accounts of the most well-used implements of the time. 

Kaimes was critical of some of the implements and machines, but he also provided a range of views on how to make them as good and effective as possible. For this reason, his accounts are worth quoting to show what was being used, what was seen to be effective and what changes could be made to them. 

The following is an account from Kaimes on the roller, published in the 1798 edition of his book: 

“The roller is an instrument of capital use in husbandry, though scarcely known in ordinary practice; and, where introduced, it is commonly so slight as to have very little effect. 

Rollers are of different kinds, stone, yetling, wood. Each of these has its advantages. I recommend the last, constructed in the following manner. Take the body of a tree, six feet ten inches long, the larger the better, made as near a perfect cylinder as possible. Surround this cylinder with three rows of fillies, one row in the middle, and one at each end. Line these fillies with planks of wood equally long with the roller, and so narrow as to ply into a circle. Bind them fast together with iron rings. Beech wood is the best, being hard and tough. It has a double pair of shafts for two horses abreast. These are sufficient in level ground: in ground not level, four horses may be necessary. The roller without the shafts ought to weigh two hundred stone Dutch; and the large diameter makes this greater weight easy to be drawn. 

With respect to the season for rolling. Rolling wheat in the month of April, is an important article in loose soil; as the winter-rains pressing down the soil may leave many roots in the air. Barley ought to be rolled immediately after the seed is sown; especially where grass seeds are sown with it. The best time for rolling a gravelly soil, is as soon as the mould is so dry as to bear the roller without clinging to it. A clay soil ought neither to be tilled, harrowed, nor rolled, till the field be perfectly dry. And as rolling a clay soil is chiefly intended for smoothing the surface, a dry season may be patiently waited for, even till the crop be three inches high. There is the greater reason for this precaution, because much rain immediately after rolling is apt to cake the surface when drought follows. Oats in a light soil may be rolled immediately after the seed is sown, unless the ground be so wet as to cling to the roller. In a clay soil, delay rolling till the grain be above ground. The proper time for growing grass-seeds in an oat-field, is when the grain is three inches high and rolling should immediately succeed whatever the soil be. Flax ought to be rolled immediately after sowing. This should never be neglected; for it makes the seed push equally, and prevents after growth, the bad effect of which is visible in every step of the process for dressing flax. The first year’s crop of sown grasses ought to be rolled as early the next spring as the ground will bear the horses. It fixes all the roots precisely as in the case of wheat. Rolling the second and third crops in loose soil, is an useful work; though not so essential as rolling the first crop. 

The effects of rolling properly used, are substantial. In the first place, it renders a loose soil more compact and solid; which encourages the growth of plants, by making the earth clap close to every part of every root. Nor need we be afraid of rendering the soil too compact; for no roller that can be drawn by two or four horses will have that effect. In the next place, rolling keeps in the moisture, and hinders drought to penetrate. This effect is of great moment. In a dry season, it may make the difference of a good crop, or no crop, especially where the soil is light. In the third place, the rolling grass-seeds, beside the foregoing advantages, facilitates the mowing for hay. And it is to be hoped, that the advantage of this practice will lead farmers to mow their corn also, which will increase the quantity of straw, both for food and for the dunghill.

There is a small roller for breaking clods in land intended for barley. The common way is to break clods with a mell, which requires many hands, and is laborious work. This roller performs the work more effectually, and at much less expence; let a harrowing precede, which will break the clods a little; and after lying a day or a day and a half to dry, this roller will dissolve them into powder. This however does not supersede the use of the great roller after all the other articles are finished, in order to make the soil compact, and to keep out the summer drought. A stone roller feet long, and fifteen inches diameter, drawn by one horse, is sufficient to break clods that are easily dissolved by pressure. The use of this roller in preparing ground for barley is gaining ground daily, even among ordinary tenants, who have become sensible both of the expense and toil of using mells. But in a clay soil, the clods are sometimes too firm, or too tough, to be subdued by so light a machine. In that case, a roller of the same size, but of a different construction, is necessary. It ought to be surrounded with circles of iron, six inches asunder, and seven inches deep; which will cut even the most stubborn clods, and reduce them to powder. Let not this instrument be considered as a finical refinement. In a stiff clay, it may make the different of a plentiful or scanty crop.”

What do you think of Kaimes’ advice on the roller in 1796?

The Ordnance Survey Namebooks provide information about place and building names at the time that the Ordnance Survey was undertaking its first edition maps between the mid 1850s to the mid 1860s. Each county was surveyed at different times within this period with those of East Lothian, Fife and Kinross being early ones and Inverness-shire, Aberdeenshire and Orkney being among some of the later ones. 

The Namebooks provide a snapshot at the premises of the Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers at a time when the sector was changing rapidly and the number of new businesses increasing rapidly. For some of them, it shows their trades and premises before they became closely associated with the making of agricultural implements and machines. 

The following are the agricultural implement works that were recorded in the Namebooks from the 1850s and 1860s across Scotland. Their small number is especially noticeable. Most were known by other names. 

Aberdeenshire – Agricultural implement works, Factory Brae, Huntly. A large block of buildings in which are manufactured ploughs, harrows, and various other agricultural implements. Messrs Sellar & Son, proprietors. 

Lanarkshire – Agricultural implement manufactory, near Townhead, Bothwell Parish. A large house of zinc and iron having skylights in the roof. There is a large yard connected with it & having tram road joining from the “Clydesdale Junction Railway”. Every description of agricultural implements are made here – both wood and iron. Locomotives are also made, but they are for agricultural purposes. Wrought by the proprietor in company with others – J. Gray & Co. 

Lanarkshire – Crofthead, Bothwell Parish. A superior house having several dwellings in the same property, as well as an agricultural implement manufactory, belonging to & partly occupied by Mr J. Waddell. The name is well known. 

Lanarkshire – Agricultural Implement Manufactory (Uddingston) – a manufactory for producing all descriptions of implements used in agriculture. The same factory was famous in the county for its style of implements under the late Mr Wilkie. It was partly burned recently & is at present idle. The property of J. Waddell & Sons, of Crofthead. 

Lanarkshire – Agricultural Implement Manufactory, Shettleston-long rows of houses used as workshops & having a yard attached. Every description of agricultural implements are made here, including ploughs, harrows, thrashing machines, shovels, spades &c. Also every description of wooden materials used for agricultural purposes. Engine boilers are also made, but only when specially ordered. The principal & almost sole trade being agricultural implements. 

The Name Books remind us of the importance of local history in looking at the Scottish agricultural implement makers and the need to link people and place. They also remind us of the need to look at the names of businesses and business premises. They also show us how well (or otherwise) the large scale making of agricultural implements was during the mid nineteenth century.

Henry Home, Lord Kaimes could be regarded as the most prominent agricultural writer of the eighteen the century. His “The Gentleman Farmer: being an attempt to improve agriculture, by subjecting it to the test of rational principles”, first published in 1776, was a best seller and went through six editions into the early 1800s.

Kaimes includes descriptions of the most widely used agricultural implements and machines. He was both positive but also critical of them. He made suggestions on how they could be improved.

Kaimes provided an extensive account of the ploughs used in Scotland. It is worth quoting at length to show some of the recent history of that important implement:

“This is the most useful implement that ever was invented. It is of more use than even the spinning wheel: for men may make a shift for clo[a]thing without that instrument, but a country cannot be populous without the plough.

The only plough used in Scotland, till of late, is a strong instrument, about thirteen feet from the handles to the extremity of the beam, and commonly above four feet from the back end of the head to the point of the sock. It is termed the Scotch plough, to distinguish it from other forms; and it needs no particular description, as it may be seen in every field. It may well be termed the Scotch Plough; for of all forms it is the fittest for breaking up stiff and rough land, especially where stones abound; and no less fit for strong clays hardened by drought. The length of its head gives it a firm hold of the ground: its weight prevents it from being thrown out by stones: the length of the handles gives the ploughman great command to direct its motion: and by the length of its head, and of its mouldboard, it lays the furrow-slice cleverly over.

The Scotch plough was contrived during the infancy of agriculture, and was well contrived: in the soils above described, it has not an equal. But in tender soil it is improper, because it adds greatly to the expense of ploughing, without any counterbalancing benefit. The length of the head and mouldboard encrease the friction, and consequently it requires a greater number of oxen or horses than are necessary in a shorter plough. There is another particular in its form, that resists the draught: the mouldboard makes an angle with the sock, instead of making a line with it gently curving backward. There is an objection against it no less solid, that it does not stir the ground perfectly: the hinder part of the wrist rises a foot above the sole of the head; and the earth that lies immediately below the hinder part, is left unstirred. This is ribbing land below the surface, similar to what is done by ignorant farmers on the surface. These defects must be submitted to in a soil that requires a strong heavy plough; but may be avoided in a cultivated soil by a plough differently constructed. Of all the ploughs fitted for a cultivated soil free of stones, I boldly recommend a plough introduced into Scotland about twelve years ago, by James Small in Blackadder Mount, Berwickshire: which is now in general request; and with great reason, as it avoids all the defects of the Scotch plough. The shortness of its head and of its mouldboard lessen the friction greatly: from the point of the sock to the back part of the head it is only thirty inches; and the whole length, from the point of the beam to the end of the handles, between eight and nine feet. The sock and mouldboard make one line gently curving; and consequently gather no earth. Instead of a wrist, the under edge of the mouldboard is in one plain with the sole of the head; which makes a wide furrow; without leaving any part unstirred. It is termed the chain-plough, because it is drawn by an iron chain fixed to the back part of the beam immediately before the coulter. This has two advantages: first, by means of a muzzle it makes the plough go deep, or shallow; and, next, it stresses the beam less than if fixed to the point, and therefore a slender beam is sufficient. This plough may well be considered as a capital improvement, not only by saving expence, but by making better work. It is proper for loams, for carse clays, and, in general, for every sort of tender soil free of stones. It is even proper for opening up pasture ground, where the soil has been formerly well cultivated.To finish an account of the plough, I must add a word about the sock. A spiked sock is used in the Scotch plough, and is essential in stony land. But a feathered sock ought always to be used in tender soil, free of stones: it cuts the earth in the furrow, and makes neat work. It is indispensable in ground where roots abound, as it cuts them below the surface, and prevents their growing. I esteem the feathered sock to be a valuable improvement.

The industrious farmer would even borrow money to clear his ground of stones, in order to introduce it: in a twenty-years lease, the profit of it would pay the expence tenfold.

Some ploughs are made with two small wheels running in the furrow, in order to take off the friction of the head; and this plough is recommended in a book, intitled, The complete farmer. But all complicated ploughs are baubles, and this as much as any. The pivots of such wheels are always going wrong; and beside, they are choked so with earth, as to increase the friction instead of diminishing it. If we look back thirty years, ploughs of different constructions did not enter into a dream. The Scotch plough was universally used, and no other was known. There was no less ignorance as to the number of cattle necessary for this plough. In the south of Scotland, six oxen and two horses were universal, and in the north, ten oxen, sometimes twelve. The first attempt to lessen the number of oxen, was in Berwickshire. The low part of that country abounds with stone, clay, and marl, the most substantial of all manures, which had been long used by one or two gentlemen. About twenty-five years ago it acquired reputation, and spready rapidly. As two horses and two oxen were employed in every marl-cart, the farmer, in summer fallowing and in preparing land for marl, was confined to four oxen and two horses.

And as that manure afforded plenty of sufficient straw for oxen, the farmer was surprised to find, that four oxen did better now than six formerly. Marling, however, a laborious work, proceeded slowly, till people were taught by a noted farmer in that country, what industry can perform by means of power properly applied. It was reckoned a mighty talk to marl five or six acres in a year. That gentleman, by plenty of red clover for his working cattle, accomplished the marling fifty acres in a summer, once fifty-four. Having so much occasion for oxen, he tried with success two oxen and two horses in a plough; and that practice became general in Berwickshire. Now here appears with lustre the advantage of the chain plough. The great friction occasioned in the Scotch plough by a long head, and by the angle it makes with the mould board, necessarily requires two oxen and two horses, whatever the soil be. The friction is so much less in the chain plough, that two good horses are found sufficient in every soil that is proper for it. And as good luck seldom comes alone more than bad, the reducing the draught to a couple of horses has another advantage, that of rendering a driver unnecessary; no slight saving at present, where a servant’s wages and maintenance are very smart articles. This saving on every plough, where two horses and two oxen were formerly used, will be the strictest computation be fifteen pounds sterling yearly; and where four horses were used, no less than twenty pounds sterling. There is now scarce to be seen in the low county of Berwickshire a plough with more than two horses; which undoubtedly in time will become general. I know but of one further improvement, that of using two oxen instead of two horses. That draught has been employed with success in several places; and the saving is so great, that it must force its way every where. I boldly affirm, that no soil stirred in a proper season, can ever require no more than two horses and two oxen, in a plough, even supposing the stiffest clay. In all other soils, two good horses, or two good oxen abreast, may be relied on for every operation of the chain plough.

A chain plough of a smaller size than ordinary, drawn by a single horse, is of all the most proper for horse ploughing, supposing the land to be mellow, which it ought to be for that operation. It is sufficient for making furrows to receive the dung, for ploughing the drills after dunging, and for hoeing the crop.

A still smaller plough of the same kind, I warmly recommend for a kitchen garden. It can be reduced to the smallest size, by being made of iron; and where the land is properly dressed for a kitchen-garden, and iron plough drawn by a horse of the smallest size will save much spade work. Strange is the effect of custom without thought! Thirty years ago, a kitchen-garden was an article of luxury merely, because at that time there could be no cheaper food than oat-meal. At present, the farmer maintains his servants at double expence, as the price of oat meal is doubled; and yet he has no notion of a kitchen garden, more than he had thirty years ago. He never thinks, that living partly on cabbage, kail, turnip, carrot, would save much oat meal: nor does he ever think, that change of food is more wholesome, than vegetables alone, or oat-meal alone. I need not recommend potatoes, which in our late scanty crops of corn have proved a great blessing: without them the labouring poor would frequently have been reduced to a starving condition.” What do you think of Kaimes’ account of the plough?

The photos were taken at BA Stores, May 2019.

Many of our readers will be familiar with the name of James A. Cuthbertson of Biggar (@James A Cuthbertson Ltd). Today Cubby’s make snow ploughs, spreaders and a range of other equipment for winter conditions But the name of Cuthbertson was also associated with innovative agricultural engineering through for example its Water Buffalo, draining ploughs and machines and its bracken cutter. 

The Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum is celebrating Cubby’s 85th birthday with an exhibition on the company, highlighting its development and the extraordinary man behind it. This free exhibition runs from 11 December to 27 March. Further information at: https://www.biggarmuseumtrust.co.uk

The company stated to trade in 1936 under the name James A. Cuthbertson, Biggar. It became a limited company in 1946 . In 1937 the company described itself as agricultural engineers. By 1946 it was also a general engineer, and in 1948 agricultural engineers and contractors. An advert in the Farming News on 15 December 1946 provides clues to the early specialities of the company. It described itself as “pioneers in mechanised draining”. The development and production of draining machinery and accessories was to become intimately associated with the Cuthbertson name.

In 1948 the company entered a drainage plough for the new implement award of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. It was awarded a silver medal for it. The company described the plough as thus:

“The plough will cut open drains to a maximum depth of twenty-two inches by a maximum width of thirty inches, at speeds varying from fifteen to thirty chains per hour, according to the nature of the ground, The plough consists of a simple sided mouldboard mounted at the rearward end of a box-girder beam, the whole being carried on a transport frame when not in operation and stabilised by a hinged sliding shaft whilst working. Beam and transport assembly are hinged about a steel rocker-pin, thus allowing the depth of the drain cut to be automatically controlled, irrespective of local undulations on the ground surface over which the transport wheels pass. Two steel cutter discs are pivotally mounted on the rocker-shaft, which is attached to the forward end of the beam, and a system of semi-elliptic springing allows the discs to rid over any obstruction and return to the pre-determined depth required. A hinged drawbar mounted at the extreme front of the beam gives a rough adjustment for depth control and has incorporated in it a shearing pin device which prevents damage to the implement should an immovable obstruction be encountered. The beam and components assembled thereon are raised into the carrying position by means of a steel cable, which should be operated by a suitable power winch mounted on the tractor. 

A spring-loaded catch is automatically engaged when the beam assembly has been raised to sufficient height and can be disengaged by the tractor driver without leaving the driving position. Any pre-determined depth of cut within the limits of the plough may be obtained by tilting the mouldboard by means of an adjusting screw situated at the extreme rear of the implement. This has the effect of altering the angle at which the share enters the soil in relation to the line of traction and so varying the depth of cut obtained. The spoil discharged by the mouldboard from the drain is removed a distance of one foot six inches back from the side of the drain by means of an adjustable, articulated pusher-blade which is mounted to the rear of the mouldboard.”

Another silver medal was to come for the company’s deep drainage plough with tile laying attachment in 1950:

“The Cuthbertson deep draining machine is designed to be hauled behind a heavy crawler tractor of 70hp to cut a drain up to a depth of 3ft, with a bottom width of 8in and a top width of 2ft 4in at the maximum depth, and to lay the tiles in perfect position, close and in line. The drain section is left ready to be covered in after the operation. The speed of the operation is 22 yards per minute.

The machine is a mild steel, electrically welded fabrication, except for the cutting share and wearing heel, which are of chilled cast steel. The machine consists primarily of a beam, transport frame and wheel, side and centre spring-loaded cutting discs, and a mould board tso shaped that it lifts the soil from the drain and deposits it on one side of the drain.

The tile laying attachment is attached directly behind the mouldboard, and the tiles are fed into this by hand from a trailer travelling alongside. The weight of the tiles being constantly fed into the attachment keeps the end butted closely together.
Automatic depth control is incorporated in the machine, as without this factor it would not be possible to lay the tiles directly behind the machine, as the bottom of the drain would require to be levelled by hand. The bottom of the drain is in “V” formation to facilitate the centralising of all sizes of tiles in the drain.
The machine is lifted from the working position to the carrying position on the frame by means by means of a wire rope connected to a winch on the tractor. The wire rope is not in use when the plough is actually working, as the wheels can rise and fall, following the undulations of the ground, without altering the level of the drain being cut.”

The company also invented a number of other key machines for reclamation and forestry work. They included a bracken cutter (which won a silver medal from the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in 1949), a grass land rejuvenator and lime spreader in 1948, a double purpose forestry planting plough, double furrow, in 1949, and a lime spreading outfit in 1951. The company was also well known for the “Cuthbertson” half track for Fordson Major conversion, in 1951. It also invented and made the “Cuthbertson” trailer track in 1952.

The photos were taken outside the Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum on the opening day of the exhibition, 11 December 2021.

By the mid nineteenth century when Scotland was being intensively mapped by the Ordnance Survey, its surveyors were out and about on the land, visiting farms and other settlements, recording the names of every building and feature. In their accounts a number of them referred to the presence of thrashing mills as part of the farm steadings.

The OS name books record that in the county of Fife there were a number of steam threshing machines erected at the farm steadings. These include: 

Lochran, Cleish – A good farm house and steading including a thrashing mill worked by steam, and an excellent farm of arable land attached. Occupier Mr Tod, proprietor Mr Patrick Adam esq. 
Skeddoway, Dysart – A first class farm house having extensive and well constructed offices with a steam thrashing mill attached. 
Cuttlehill, Aberdour – A near country mansion delightfully situated on an eminence, commanding an extensive view. It is well sheltered with young plantings which are tastefully laid. A little north of the house are extensive out offices, a threshing mill (worked by steam) and [?] works. In the front of the mansion, or a little south, is a small wooded lawn, on the north west side of it a fruit and vegetable garden. The property of the heir of the late Robert Wemyss. Occupier Mr Burns, late factor of the estate. 
Carskurdo – This is a large farm steading with cottars houses. The thrashing mill driven by steam power. It is occupied by Mr David Yool, Blebo Mills, Dura Den, and the proprietor is Mr Gullane, Dunfermline. 
Nydie, St Andrews – This is a very large farm steading with dwelling house and garden. The thrashing machine is driven by steam power. The tenant is Mr Robert Walker and the proprietor is Captain Robert Bethune of Blebo. 

Blebo Mains, Kemback – This is a large and very convenient farm steading with dwelling house and garden. The thrashing machines is driven by steam. The farm is occupied by Mr Walker and the proprietor is Alexander Beaton esq, Blebo. 
Newbigging, Ceres – This is a large farm steading with dwelling house of two stories and small garden. The thrashing mill is driven by steam. The whole of the farm buildings are of recent erection, and occupied by Mr John Walker. The proprietor is J. A. Thomson esq of Charleton. Pittillock, Arngask – An excellent farm house with commodious outbuildings, and a steam thrashing mill attached. Occupied by Mr Clark. 
Rires – A large farm house and office houses all in good repair with steam power. Thrashing mill in good working order attached to these. Is a large farm of ground, the property of Mr James Sith (farmer). 
Dalniel Den – A large and well built farm house and office houses with a steam power thrashing mill all in good repair the property of General Lindsay of Balcarres & occupied by Mr Bogie, farmer. 

Letham, Scoonie – A farm house two stories with suitable offices and a farm of arable land containing about 400 acres attached. There is a thrashing machine propelled by steam power on the premises, the whole held under a lease of 19 years from George Simpson esq, Pitcorthie by Mr James Swan. 
Sunnybraes, Largo – A farm house two stories high with suitable offices and a farm of land containing upwards of 200 acres attached. There is a thrashing machine propelled by steam power on the premises and held under a lease of 19 years from the Standard Life Assurance Co. by Mr James Forgan. 
Kirkland Farm, Wemyss – A good farm house and offices with about 138 Scotch acres attached. There is a thrashing machine on the premises propelled by a steam engine of 5 horse power. It is the property of Admiral Wemyss of Wemyss Castle and occupied by Mr Andrew Lawrie. 
Cavelstone, Kinross – An excellent farm house with extensive outbuildings and steam threshing mill attached about a mile south of Kinross.

By the mid nineteenth century when Scotland was being intensively mapped by the Ordnance Survey, its surveyors were out and about on the land, visiting farms and other settlements, recording the names of every building and feature. In their accounts a number of the surveyors refer to the presence of thrashing mills as part of the farm steadings.

Their evidence can be used to gain a better idea of the distribution and presence of steam (and water driven) threshing machines at farms. Some parts of Scotland had numerous steam threshing machines erected at the farm steadings. 

In West Lothian, these were largely found in the coastal parishes such as Abercorn, Dalmeny, as well as Kirkliston and Linlithgow. The OS name book entries are interesting for the information they reveal about the farms on which they were erected, the state of the farm steadings, information on the owner, and sometimes the size of the farm. In a few cases there is some information about the actual mill, including its size and horse power. For example, at Easter Dalmeny, Dalmeny the mill was “very fine portable one of eight horse power”. 

The following are the farms on which steam threshing mills were found in West Lothian, according to the OS name books: 

Wester Duntarvie, Abercorn – this is a large farm steading with dwelling house of two storeys and garden; the thrashing machine is driven by steam. Mr James Bartholemew, farmer, is the tenant and the Earl of Hopetoun is the proprietor. 
Echline, Dalmeny – A good dwelling house two stories high and slates, with extensive farm offices, and a thrashing mill worked by steam, attached-also a row of cottages occupied by hinds. There is a good garden, and a lathe arable farm also attached. It is the property of James Dundas esq of Dundas Castle. And in the occupation of George Thomson. 
Easter Dalmeny, Dalmeny – A large farmstead consisting of an excellent swelling house two stories high & slated. Attached to it are extensive outbuildings with a thrashing mill worked by steam, the engine is a very fine portable one of eight horse power. There is a small portion of ornamental ground & garden attached to the dwelling. The farm consists of 230 acres & is the property of Lord Roseberry. 
Westfield, Dalmeny – A good farm house with suitable offices including thrashing mill worked by steam power, also a row of cottages occupied by farm servants, a garden and a good arable farm attached. Occupied by Mr Stevenson. The property of James Dundas esq of Dundas Castle. 

Dolphington, Dalmeny – This is a very large farm steading with dwelling house and garden occupied by the foreman. The thrashing mill is driven by steam. The present tenant is Mr Buchan distiller, Kirkliston. Hope Vere esq is the proprietor. 
Niddry Mains, Kirkliston-A good dwelling house two stories high in good repair and slated with an extensive farm steading- a thrashing mill worked by steam – a garden and a large arable farm attached, the property of the Earl of Hopetoun – and in the occupation of Andrew Millar. 
Humbie, Kirkliston – This is a very large farm steading with thrashing machine driven by stream. The dwelling house is two stories high, to the north of which is the garden. Mr J. Dudgeon is tenant and the Earl of Hopetoun proprietor. 
Niddrie, Kirkliston – This is a large farm steading with dwelling house and garden and thrashing machine driven by steam. Messrs J. & G. Young, Edinburgh, are the tenants, and the proprietor is the Earl of Hopetoun. 
Wheatlands, Kirkliston – This is a very large farm steading with thrashing machine driven by steam. The dwelling house is of two stories, and there is a garden. The present tenant is Mr Dickson and the proprietor is Mr Hutchson, Carlowrie Castle. 
Boghall, Linlithgow – A very fine farmstead, south of Springfield Chemical Works, consisting of cattle sheds, barns &c and having a thrashing mill worked by steam – two small dwellings form part of the steading & are occupied by a labourer & the overlooker of the farm. It is the property and is farmed by Mr William Wilkie, Ormiston Hill. 

Gateside, Linlithgow – A large and commodious dwelling house two storeys high, in good repair and slated, with extensive farm offices, including a thrashing mill worked by steam and three rows of cottages of an inferior description attached. It is the property of the Earl of Hopetoun and in the occupation of Mr W. Wilson. 
Oatridge, Linlithgow – A good dwelling house two storeys high and slated with a court of farm offices including a thrashing mill worked by steam, a good garden and an extensive arable farm attached and is part of the Binny Estate. 
Blackfaulds – This name applies to a large and commodious farm house or mansion house two storeys high with suitable offices including thrashing machine propelled by steam power all in good repair. There is a large harden attached, with a good farm of arable land. The property & residence of William Blackhall esqr. 

Gowanbank, Torphichen – A large and commodious farm house, three storeys high, with suitable offices, and a thrashing machine, propelled by steam, all in very excellent repair. There is a large garden, a small portion of ornamental ground, and about a hundred acres of arable land attached. Proprietor and occupier Mr Gowan. 
Stankards, Uphall – A large farmstead. The dwelling house is only one storey high and slated with a. garden in rear. The outbuildings are large & extensive, having a thrashing mill attached, worked by steam; the whole is in. good repair – the occupier is Mr James Ford holding a farm of 196 acres Scotch. It is the property of the Earl of Buchan, Amondell.

The photos were taken at the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, August 2018.

From the mid nineteenth century a number of champion ploughing matches were held in Scotland. These were especially noted in the north-east. They were open to ploughmen who had won awards at earlier matches – hence the matches were matches of champions pitting their skills against one another.

By the early 1900s some of these matches were large affairs and were well-attended. The Lower Deeside Champion Ploughing Match was set up in 1910 and continued for a number of decades. It was a large match, with competitors sometimes coming from far afield to compete against well-known ploughmen, to produce high-quality ploughing. Accounts of the match were usually printed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. 

Accounts from the mid 1930s show what the match was like, how it was organised, classes, the prizewinners and other details (such as weather conditions). 

The 1934 match (Aberdeen press and journal, 5 February 1934) 
The twenty-fourth annual champion ploughing match of Lower Deeside was held on West Cults Farm on a field granted by Mr James Burnett on Saturday. There were forty-eight competitors, some coming from as far north as Forres and as far south as Fordoun. 
Favoured with the best of weather and with a field of all-round equal texture of the most favourable kind, the match proved one of the best in the history of Lower Deeside. So equally good was all the ploughing that the judges had patiently to wait for the finishing until they could make their decisions. 
The judges were Messrs J. Allan, Begsley, Kinaldie; John Bennett, Highmuir, Raynel abnd Robert Logie, Ardlaw, Fraserburgh. The committee, with Mr Joseph Monro, Upper Balfour, Durris, as chairman; Mr Charles Miller, the new secretary; and Mr F. T. Gardner as treasurer had all the arrangements in smooth-going order.
The prizes were handed out by Mrs Burnett, and before issuing the results the chairman called for votes of thanks to the judges, the secretary, and Mrs Burnett.
The well-known ploughman, A. Taylor, Clayfords, Strichen, carried off the champion silver cup, presented by Mr William D. Findlay, Northern Hotel, Kittybrewster. 
In the evening, judges, committee, and friends were entertained at West Cults Fram by Mr and Mrs Burnett. Toasts to judges, Mr Burnett for his field, and to the secretary and chairman and Mr and Mrs Burnett were pledged as well as some extra toasts.
The following is the prize-list- 1. A. Taylor, Clayfords, Strichen; 2. J, Thomson, Drumallochie, Glenkindle; 3. Reid, Knapsleask, Slains, Ellon; 4. A Stuart, Pinkins, Fyvie; 5. J. Thomson, Muirton Cottage, Lossiemouth; 6. Shepherd, Wardford, Coull, Tarland; 7. W. Gray, Earlseat, Hatton; 8. G. Shand, Foresterhill, Oldmeldrum; 9. W. Mowat, Dams of Craigie, whitecairns; 10. G. Beattie, Market Stance, Stoneywood; 11. Moir, Moy Farm, Forres; 12. A. Mitchell, West Cults Farm, Cults; 13. A. Grieve, Silverburn, Countesswells; 14. McIrvine, Mains of Rothmaise, Inch; 15. A. Watt, Moss-side, Countesswells; 16. W. Gilbert, Breda, Alford; 17. T. Fraser, South Ardiffery, Hatton; 18. J. Duncan, North Mains, Auchenhove, Lumphanan; 19. W. Beverley, Haughton Arms, Alford; 20. A. Taylor, Doonies, Nigg; 21. R. Allan, Finnerey, Echt; 22. Hay, Longleys, Crimond, Lonmay; 23. W. Gilbert, Moss-side, Fetternear, Inverurie; 24. W. Barclay, Cowford, Ord, Banff; 25. J. Gilbert, Braeside, Cusalmond; 26. J. Lamb, Roadside, Whitecairns; 27. Rennie, Borrowstone, Countesswells.
Feering – 1. A. Taylor, 2. W. Mowat
Finish – 1. R. Allan; 2. T. Fraser
Feering and finish – A. Taylor. Straightest furrows- Reid, Knapsleask. Oldest ploughman-W. Beverley. 

The 1935 match (Aberdeen press and journal, 18 February 1835)
Stocial powers of endurance were displayed by the competitors at the annual Deeside champion ploughing match, which was held in a field on the farm of Mill of Wester Coull, near Aboyne, on Saturday.
Throughout the day steady rain, lashed by a bitterly cold wind, chilled the thirty-eight competitors through and through, but they stuck to their task and, despite the conditions, some splendid ploughing was witnessed by the handful of spectators who had the courage to brave the elements.
In the vicinity of the officials’ tent the ground was literally a quagmire.
Nevertheless the enthusiasm of officials and competitors was unquenchable and was a tribute to that hardiness and dour determination which have always been characteristic of the Scots worker on the land. Many known “crack” ploughmen competed, and with a good, level field on which to work they turned some remarkably fine rigs.
The championship cup was won by Robert Allan, Echt, who has had numerous successes in competitive ploughing throughout the North-East.
The outstanding feature of the match, however, was the success of Jas. Merchant, Dubston, Finzean, who carried off no fewer than nine prizes, including the ninth prize for actual ploughing. 
At the close of the competition the prizes were presented by Mr C. M. Barclay-Harvey, MP, who was introduced by Mr J. R. McCaw, Douneside. Mr R. R. Anderosn, Milton, Auchinhove, proposed votes of thanks to the judges, the committee, the donor of the field, Mr Wm McConnachie, and the donors of the prizes.
The arrangements were in the capable hands of Mr A. Middleton, East Mains, Aboyne, along with a committee, and Mr and Mrs McCallum, Aberdeen Arms Hotel, were responsible for the catering. 
The judges were-ploughing-Messrs Jas. Allan, Begsley, Kinaldie; Wm Brown, Lauchintilly, Dunecht; and Wm Reid, Kintore Arms. Horse and harness-Jas Burnett, West Cults.

The prize winners were:- 1. Robert Allan, Finnerey, Echt; 2. Wm Grey, Hatton; 3. George Lyon, Kintore; 4. Bert Gilbert, Scotstoun, Insch; 5. John Shand, Foresterhill, Oldmeldrum; 6. Bert Strachan, Echt; 7. H. Duncan, Logie; 8. J. Brown, Kirkton of Forres, Alford; 9. Jas. Merchant, Dubston, Finzean; 10. Wm Beverly, Alford; 11. H. Thompson, Calfward, Leochel Cushnie; 12. John Gilbert, Braeside, Cusalmond; 13. Wm Grassick, Breda, Alford; 14. Jas. Gilbert, Dalhakie, Glassel; 15. George Mowatt, Whitecairns; 16. A. Mitchell, Milton, Murtle; 17. Wm Stewart, Migvie; 18. John McCombie, jun, Davan, Dinnet; 19. A. Malcolm, Goukstile, Finzean; 20. J. Dunn, Brandeen, Craigievar.
Feering – 1. J. Merchant; 2. George Mowatt, Finis – 1. R. Allan; 2. H. Thompson. Feering and finish combined – J. Merchant.
Straightest furrows-W. Gray, North Easterton, Hatton. 
Oldest ploughman- A. Middleton, Aboyne; youngest ploughman- H. Thompson; ploughman with least experience- J. Merchant; ploughman with largest family- 1. John Shand; 2. Wm Gray; ploughman coming longest distance-1. Jas Coutts, Kinloss, Forres; 2. R. Robertson, Foudoun. 
Harness- 1. J. Merchant; 2. A. Irvine, Tarland; 3. G. Robertson, Deerhillock.
Grooming-1. J. Merchant; 2. A. Irvine; 3. G. Robertson.
Decorations- 1. J. Merchant; 2. A. Irvine.
Harness and grooming combined-J. Merchant.
Most points in horse and harness-J. Merchant. 

1936 match (Aberdeen press and journal, 3 February 1936)
The twenty-sixth annual Lower Deeside champion ploughing match, which had to be postponed on account of unsuitable weather, was held on Saturday at Inchgarth Farm, Cults, near Aberdeen. 
The field was granted by Mr George Taylor. The match was late in starting on account of the frost and the committee deferred coming to a decision for an hour. The prospect of a fine day at length prompted them to proceed. The original entries, owing to the unsettled weather, showed a decrease of about a dozen from last year, and numbered twenty-eight.
After having raised their feerings, five competitors retired as it was found that in addition to the surface frost of that morning there still existed a band of the original frost about three inches down in some of the ridges where there was not much foggage.
The committee had salted parts of the field the day before but this had not any effect on the underground frost. Much good work was nevertheless done by those who completed their task in face of the difficulties.
The efforts of Mr C. Reid, Bankhead of Monboddo, Auchenblae, were specially good, He carried off first prize for ploughing, for feering, for finish, and for feering and finish combined. This competitor whilst in Slains was a well-known prize-winner in the Buchan district. The judges were Messrs James Peters, Backhill of Dunecht; George Oliphant, Fingask, Mintlaw, and William Beverley, Haughton Arms, Alford. The arrangements of the committee, in the perplexing circumstances, were well carried out with Mr Joseph Monro, Aberdeen, as chairman; Mr C. Miller, Aberdeen, as secretary, and Mr Alexander Gibson as treasurer. Mr Donald Henderson was time-keeper.

After the contest the judges and committee were entertained at Inchgarth Farm, where the usual toasts were proposed of the judges, lender of field, suppliers of horses, secretary, and all who had helped in making the match a success.
The prize list was- 1. Charles Reid, Bankhead, Monboddo, Auchenblae; 2. William Mowatt, Dams of Craigie, Belhelvie; 3. William Gilbert, Nether Coullie, Kemnay; 4. J. Taylor, Clayfords, Strichen; 5. R. Allan, Finnerey, Echt; 6. Alexander Shepherd, Wardford, Tarland; 7. William Barclay, Cowford, Banff; 8. A. Macaulay, Upper Balblair, Midmar; 9. G. Lyon, Cotton, Kintore’ 10. A. Gray, North Easterton, Hatton; 11. John Shand, Mains of Portlethen, P{ortlethen; 12, B. Strachan, South Kirkton, Echt; 13. A. Stewart, Pinkins, Fyvie; 14. J. Youngson, Skilmafilly, Auchingatt; 15. A. Taylor, Downies, Nigg. Feering-1. C. Reid, 2. William Mowatt; finish-1. C. Reid, 2. William Gilbert; feering and finish combined-C. Reid; straightest furrows-A. Macaulay; oldest ploughman-A. Shepherd.

The photos were taken at BA Stores, May 2019.

In 1890 Ben Reid & Co., Aberdeen, opened a new premises in Aberdeen to enable it to grow its business and to undertake its work more efficiently and effectively. The North British Agriculturist sent one of its journalists to visit the new factory. It is worth quoting at length for the amount of information it provides on the company and its activities:

“We had the pleasure of recently inspecting the famous Bon Accord Implement Works of the Messrs Ben Reid & Co., Aberdeen. This well-known firm, whose enterprise and excellence of workmanship have made the Bon Accord implements known and highly prized not only in this country, but wherever there are crops to be sown and harvests to be reaped, has for many years consisted solely of two gentlemen-Mr William Anderson and Mr Robert Garvie. The former gentleman is invariably found at the head of the firm’s stand at every agricultural gathering of any consequence in the three kingdoms; while the latter is found with equal regularity at the head of that garrison of industry, where the implements are produced by which the conquests of the firm are year by year extended. Mr William Anderson is the beau ideal of the implement exhibitor, as he is fully equipped not only with the suaviter in modo, but also with the fortiter in re. His naturally genial disposition is mated with a robust confidence in the dignity of his calling, and the very important use which the implement maker renders to the agricultural community. He pushes the sale of his goods on the invulnerable principle of giving good value for a good price; and the cheap-jack who wants to beat down the price, and buy first-class implements at the current rate for scamped work, invariably gets short shrift at his hands. He has always stood boldly out for the exhibitors of implements receiving more generous recognition from the leading agricultural societies than they have hitherto had, and his efforts in this way have been rewarded with considerable success. It is not surprising, therefore, that even his keenest competitors in the same line of business should have united, as one man, to honour him by appointing him president of the Society of Scottish Engineers, a position which he has held for the last three years. His partner, Mr Garvie, is not so well known to the outside public, on account of his sticking so closely to the factory work; but by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance he is justly esteemed as a high-souled knight of labour, whose ‘scutcheon is graved with numerous honours won on the field of engineering science.

The praise occupied by this firm are splendidly equipped, though by no means so extensive as one would have expected considering the amount of manufactured goods which are turned out every year, and the quantity of timber that has to be stored in order to be thoroughly well dried and seasoned. This apparent deficiency of accommodation, however, is due to the fact that machinery specially designed and specially constructed is here used to a quite unusual extent for the manufacture of the reapers, seed drills, &c. Just as in the latest product of dairy science, the Instantaneous Butte Maker, the new milk us fed in at the one-end and butter-milk come out at the other, or, as in the case of the fabled pig-dressing machines in Chicago, where the pigs are put in at the one end, and the hams, sausages, and bristles done up into brushes come out at the other, so here the wood and steel are fed into the machines and come out, not finished reapers or mowers certainly, but parts which are executed with the nicest mathematical precision, and only require putting together to complete the Bon Accord product. Most of these manufacturing machines, whose use saves time and labour to such an extent, and also ensures that each and every part shall be the exact counterpart of another, have been conceived and produced in the brain of either Mr Anderson or Mr Garvie. The greatest care is taken to ensure that none but wood and steel or iron of the very best quality shall be fed into these manufacturing machines, which, automatically as it were, turn out all the separate parts of the machines produced at the Bon Accord Works. The Bon Accord reapers and mowers, seed drills, and broadcast sowing machines produced by this firm are too well and favourably known to require description outside the Dark Continent. So, too, is their sharpener for reaping-machine blades, which is now justly regarded as an indispensable requisite on every farm. Every scythesman knows how tiresome it is to cut with a blunted blade, but when there was only the old plan of using the file to fall back upon, the ploughman were only too apt, to forget that the cutting with a blunted reaper blade was heavy on the horses as upon the scythesman. By the way, in these days when everything must be brought up to date, it might be a good plan for some enterprising firm like that under notice to bring the Nineteenth Century Art up to date by depicting Old father Time with a self-binder and a chronometer, instead of such out of date appliances as a hook and an hour-glass. 

In addition to the purely agricultural implements by which the firm has become so well known, a large business is also done at the Bon Accord works in the production of garden railings and gates. This branch of the business is also conducted in a most exhaustive way, and all kinds of railings and gates are produced, from the humble railing and wicket that encloses the garden of the cottage villa, up to the costly railing and gorgeous gates that form a fitting off-set for the mansion of the peer. So greatly has this part of the business at the Bon Accord works, that a skilled artist is constantly employed in producing and elaborating designs for such railings and gates. 

The implement works of Messrs Reid & Co., are the only works of the kind in the Granite city. This is not surprising considering the standing which this firm have acquired in the implement trade. At the same time, the north-east of Scotland is far from being a preserve of theirs any more than the rest of the country is. Indeed, it is probable that their constituents are as numerous in any other part of Scotland as they are in Aberdeenshire, and their foreign trade is also a vast as well as a growing one. Altogether, it may be safely said, alike as regards the quantity and quality of the products turned out by this firm, and the unique position which the partners hold in the estimation of the agricultural public, the Bon Accord works are an institution of which the city of Bon Accord may be justly proud.”

An informative account on a great Aberdeen company!

One of the well known implement and machine makers in Perthshire was J. Bisset & Sons, Marlee, which was set up in 1835. By 1883 it had expanded and set up implement works, Greenbank Works, on the Dunkeld Road, Blairgowrie where it remained into the mid 1960s.

Its early manufactures included reaping machines and tattie diggers. It won awards for its reaping machines – a silver medal for a reaping machine from the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in 1868; a silver medal for a self-delivery reaper at the Society’s trials in 1873. By the early 1890s it was the only Scottish maker of binders.

One of the early members of the business was Mr Thomas S. Bisset, agricultural engineer at Bisset & Son, Blairgowrie. He died in August 1896. The Dundee advertiser of 29 August 1896 published an extensive obituary, providing information on his role and the wider business. It is worth quoting at length: 

“Death of Mr Thomas S. Bisset, agricultural engineer 
It is with great regret we have to announce the death of Mr Thomas S. Bisset, managing partner of the firm of Messrs Bisset & Son, Greenbank Works, Blairgowrie, which took place at his residence, Galabank, yesterday morning about eight o’clock. Although deceased had been in somewhat indifferent health for some time bank, there was no apparent cause for concern. As a matter of fact, he was attending to ordinary duties no further back than last Friday. On that day, however, he was suddenly taken ill, and his trouble assumed such a serious aspect that his medical attendant, Dr Hood, considered it advisable to call in the services of Dr Thomson, assistant to Professor Annandale, Edinburgh, by whom an operation of great difficulty was performed in a successful manner. The patient was never able to rally, however, and after lingering a few days, expired yesterday morning. He was 57 years of age.

Deceased was a son of the late Mr John Bisset, Balcairn, Marlee, who founded the firm of Bisset & Sons in 1835. Mr Bisset, sen, was a man of decided opinions of his own, and never was reconciled to the heavy iron ploughs which were in vogue so long. He lived long enough to welcome the lightly constructed American wooden ploughs as being more to his ideas. In 1862 the subject of the present notice visited the exhibition in London, and was so much struck with the reaping machines, then not long introduced, which he had seen there, that he returned home fired with the ambition to construct as good, and in the autumn of that year he designed his first self-acting back delivery. The new machine took well, and. A large number of strong plain “Blairgowrie Reapers” were turned out, as well as potato diggers, &c. In 1867 he patented his steel-lined finger for reapers and mowers-an improvement which is now adopted by every maker in the country. In 1878 he constructed the “Scotia” mower and reaper, the first enclosed gearing made in Britain. About nine years ago the firm began the manufacture of self-binders, and their successes everywhere will be fresh in the minds of the agricultural public. In every competitive trial in which they have taken part they have invariably taken a leading position, and the firm is still the only makers of self-binders in Scotland. Besides designing harvest machinery of a variety of types, the improvements he effected on other agricultural implements, such as potato diggers, potato planters, &c, proved him possessed of great constructive ability. He was never done experimenting in order to improve his machines in convenience, lightness of draught, &c, and every season saw a steady advance upon the previous one. 
About 20 years ago, owing to rapidly increasing business, a site at Greenbank was secured, where the present works were erected. Since then they have been extended several times, and it is only this season that new and commodious offices were added. Mr Bisset was a man of great mechanical ingenuity and business push, and showed a great deal of courage and enterprise in carrying on the large concern with which he was connected. He knew the value of being kept continually before the public, advertised well, and never missed having some of his machines at every show of importance.

He was a member for three years of Kinloch School Board, where he succeeded his father. On removing to Blairgowrie he entered the School Board there, and had been a member for nearly six years. He took great interest in educational matters, particularly technical education, the value of which he set very high and believed in greatly as a means for the retention and extension of the commercial prosperity of the country. He was a staunch member of the First Free Church and a sound Liberal. He married a daughter of Mr Gibb, Middle Park, Ashmore, by whom he had seven of a family.
Deceased was a man of perfect probity and trustworthiness, and as such was held in highest esteem by all who came in contact with him. He was a man of few words, and those he used were invariably direct to the point; but he never had the least difficulty in making up his mind on any subject, marking out his own line of duty or action, and proceeding therein with unflinching steadfastness.
There are a few anecdotes which may illustrate the natural mechanical turn of Mr Bisset. As a great reader of engineering papers, he observed in 1868 that bicycles were being constructed in Paris. From illustrations of one, he constructed a very useful machine, upon which he rode a journey of 30 miles soon after. He used to claim that he was the first maker and rider of a bicycle in Britain. The machine is still to be seen. He also made a capital ball-shooting gun for his own use out of horseshoe nails in his 18th year. When about 23 years of age, hearing that McCormack, the American maker of reaping machines, was to start one at Dunkeld for the Duke of Atholl, Mr Bisset, full of enthusiasm, set off to see it. The machine broke down, and, with the Duke and Duchess looking on, McCormack was in a great state of nerves. Young Bisset pushed forward to see what was wrong, and something in his bearing caught the eye of McCormack. “Are you a worker in iron?” asked he. He replied he was. “Can you men that, do you think?” “I think I could”, was the reply. McCormack asked him to do it then, and accordingly Mr Bisset shouldered the broken part of this reaper, and carried it to a smithy at Dunkeld. There he repaired the machine satisfactorily, and assisted the maker in starting it. McCormack complimented him as a clever workman, and gave him a half-sovereign-the first money he ever earned from reapers. 
Mr Bisset was a keen angler and a strong swimmer. In latter years he had little leisure for the outdoor sports he delighted in when a young man. Of an evening then he would think nothing of swimming across Marlee Loch and back again-a feat few, if any, in Blairgowrie could perform. 

Mr Bisset will be greatly missed in the agricultural districts of Central and Eastern Scotland, where he was well known and perfectly trusted. He had gained the thorough confidence of the farming community by his thoroughness and downrightness as a practical engineer and man of business. With a strong liking for a sweetly moving piece of mechanism, he had at the same time a scorn for things that would not stand wear and tear. Few men in his line of business were so quick and shrewd as he in making practical use of floating criticisms in regard to machines. A strong man in mechanical affairs, and knowing his own mind very clearly, he had a swift instinct in catching new ideas. If he had a fault at all it was in being over-eager, and in allowing his own marked individuality to have rather free scope. He was present at the binder trials held near Perth on the 18th of this month, but to some of his more intimate friends on the ground he remarked that he ought to have been at home and in bed. At Perth market yesterday the news of his death was received with great regret by agriculturists in general.”