Category: Out and about

Farm displenishing sales provide information on what implements and machines were present on individual farms at a specific date. They show what was there rather than what was actually being used as some may have fallen out of favour. However, they can be useful for tracking the use and adoption of new implements and machines (such as tractors, steam ploughs, binders or reapers), as well as noted makes of implements, and the use of ones from the United States or Canada. 

In the early 1920s farm displenishing sale notices show the progress that mechanisation had been made at this time, including the use of reapers and binders and the recently adopted tractors. Some of the large farms in Midlothian – as at Bonnington – had embraced this new form of motive power, though alongside the older form of horse power. At this time we see the increasing use of implements and machines from Canada and the United States, shown in names such as Massey Harris, Deering, Cockshutt, and Oliver. These were being used along locally made implements and machines by makers such as Sellar, Newlands and Sherriff – names that were also widely known outside the country. 

On some farms the range of implements and machines was impressive – many tasks were widely mechanised and an implements and machine used to undertake them; man power was still needed to work them. 

The following extracts from farm displenishing sales of leading farms in the Lothians were published in The Scotsman in 1921. Are there any trends that you notice in them? Are there any implements that you consider unusual or unexpected? 

Westfield Farm, two miles from South Queensferry and Winchburgh (15 October 1921) 
Implements – 4 box carts, 4 long carts, spring van, dog cart, 2 Massey Harris binders, 3 Wallace reapers, hay trolley, swathe turner, broadcast sower, hay collector, horse rake, 6 chill ploughs, 2 Oliver ploughs, 2 drill ploughs, double driller, 5 sets harrows, 2 land rollers, turnip sower, 2 cultivators, 2 drill grubbers, 2 rollers, cake breaker, fanners, chaff cutter, troughs, barrows, ladders &c, and all the usual small farm implements; 9 sets cart and plough harness. 

Bonnington, Kirknewton, Midlothian (29 October 1921)  
Implements – 1 Fordson tractor, 12 box carts, 10 long carts, 1 dog cart, 3 Massey-Harris, 1 six-foot Massey Harris, and 2 Deering Binders; 5 reapers, 5 hay tillers, 4 drill ploughs, 1 Oliver chilled plough, 10 single ploughs, and 4 double furrow ploughs; 2 three-horse grubbers, 7 drill grubbers, 2 tractor cultivators, 1 horse cultivator, 6 sets harrows, set 10 ft grass seed harrows, 1 Scotch harrow, 2 drill harrows, 1 scarifier, 4 metal rollers, 1 stone roller, 1 Cambridge roller, 1 manure plough (double drill), 1 manure distributor, 1 turnip sower, 1 broadcast sower, 1 potato planter, 3 potato diggers, 1 expanding 18-horse rake, 3 horse rakes, 1 horse fork, 1 turnip cutter, 1 water cart, weighing machine, cake breaker, 6 sheep racks, fanners, chaff cutter, troughs, ladders, barrows, cart axles, 20 sets swingle trees, 30-cwt block and tackle, cart ropes, bosses, scythes, sowing sheet, graips, hoes, forks and shovels, potato baskets, sheep netting and stobs, shearers’ blankets, stack props, cake and corn bins, lawn mower, washstand and basin, mallet, brushes; mangle; bothy utensils, and all usual small implements.
Harness and saddlery
20 complete sets cart and plough harness; 2 riding saddles; 3 sets driving harness; 2 riding bridles and 6 horse blankets, forge, anvil, bellows, and various tools. 

Monktonhall, Musselburgh (5 November 1921) 
Implements – The usual farm implements, including – 22 close and long carts, 4 Massey Harris binders, 4 mowers, 1 sheep turnip cutting cart, 1 sheep cart, broadcast, 2 Ideal manure distributors, 2 corn drills, 2 horse rakes, scarifier, turnip sowing barrow, iron rollers, hay collectors, Newlands cultivator, 2 double moulded ploughs, 5 Sellar ploughs, 2 Oliver ploughs, 2 double furrow ploughs, harrows, 2 sets chain harrows, drill grubbers, van, water barrel, and all the small tools. 12 sets cart and plough harness. 

Millrigg Farm, Kirknewton (9 November 1921) 
Implements – Deering binder, double drill manure distributor, 6 carts, 4 hay waggons, horse rake, Deering hay reaper, 2 reaping machines, double furrow Cockshutt plough, double bulking plough, Ransome’s Scotch plough, swing plough by Gray, Dux plough, hay trolley, 2 sets harrows, brake harrows, saddle harrows, field and other grubbers, turnip barrow, potato digger, turnip pulper, turnip cutter, 2 metal and 2 stone rollers, potato planter, dumb tam, wash barrel, wash pump, wheelbarrow, sack barrow, fanners, boilers, various; harvest frame, troughs, potato baskets, various binding chains, trees, scythes, graips, rakes, spades, forks, shovels, ropes, 4 set cart harness, 2 pairs backbands, odd harness, corn chest, meat cooler, 8 8-gallon and 2 4-gallon milk flasks, milk refrigerator, butter cooler, barrel churn, various outhouses and sheds; 3hp oil engine, threshing mill, hay cutter and corn bruiser &c. 

Knowes, Prestonkirk (19 November 1921) 
Farm implements – 10 coup carts on wheels, coup cart body, 3 long cart bodies, 7 cart frames, turnip cutting cart, 4 Massey Harris binders, 2 reapers, Sherriff broadcast seed sowing machine, Sherriff corn driller, manure distributor, double driller and manure sower, Ransome potato digger, potato sprayer (almost new), turnip seed sowing machine, scarifier, 3 metal rollers, drill roller, horse rake, 3 hay collectors, 2 Ransome cultivators (with moulds), 4 Ransome ploughs, 4 double moulded ploughs, 4 sets English harrows, set glass seed harrows (18ft), hand hay baler, 3 sets ladders, 5 cattle turnip slicers, 2 sheep turnip cutters, dishorner, graips, forks, shovels, hoes and other small barn and stable utensils. Also, 11 sets cart and plough harness.

Trade marks and names were widely used by the Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. These were especially used in relation to reaping machines, binders and potato diggers as well as manufactures that were especially associated with particular makers. In 1910 Thomas Hunter & Sons, Implement Works, Maybole, manufactured the Hunter hoe, the Hunter spring tooth harrow and Hunter’s patent single drill self-acting turnip topping and tailing machine as well as its Excelsior manure distributor. J. Bisset & Sons, Blairgowrie, made its Bisset steel built binder, its Empire pole potato digger, and its New Champion potato digger. 

These names say something about the reputation of the maker and its particular manufactures. Everyone would have known what a Hunter hoe was and who manufactured them. Likewise a Bisset binder – and they would have known that the New Champion was made by Bisset. 

Trade names continued to remain important in the second half of the twentieth century – as they do now. There was a wide range of trade marks and names. Some applied to specific implements and machines made by a manufacturer or to the entirety of their manufactures. If you heard the names Allan, Caledonian, Dickie-Campbell you would know who or what they referred to. 

The following is a list of the trade marks and names for the Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers in 1952. How many of the names do you recognise? 

Ajax (fertiliser distributor) – Alex Jack & Sons Ltd, Cassilis Road, Maybole, Ayrshire 
Allan (threshing machines, engines) – Allan Bros. (Aberdeen) Ltd, Ashgrove Engineering Works, Aberdeen 
Ann Arbor (pick up baler) – John Wallace & Sons (Ayr) Ltd, Townhead Works, Ayr
Atlas (hydraulic swivel loader) – James A. Cuthbertson Ltd, station Road, Biggar, Lanarkshire 
Ayrshire (Elevator) – Scottish Farm Implements Ltd, Crosshouse, Kilmarnock 
Banff-Victory (broadcaster) – Banff Foundry & Engineering Co. Ltd, Banff Foundry, Banff 
Boyne (threshing machines) – Wright Bros (Boyne Mills) Ltd, Portsoy, Banffshire 
Brais – Tullos td, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Caledonian (potato spinner) – Alexander Jack & Sons Ltd, Maybole, Ayrshire 
Champion (root drill) – J. & R. Wallace Ltd, The Foundry, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright 
Clark-Sucklift (Cutter-loader), Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Cletrack (agricultural tracklayer)- John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Dennistoun, Glasgow 
Clydebuilt (egg recorder, laying cage) – Innes Walker (Engineering) Cop. Ltd, 30 Stanley Street, Glasgow 

Daisy Bell – William Elliot, 48 High Street, Hawick 
Dickie-Campbell (ricklifter) – Wm Dickie & Sons Ltd, Victoria Works, East Kilbride
Dicks J. Original (Balata belting) – R. & J. Dick, Greenhead Works, Glasgow
Eclipse (potato sorter) – John Monro, Eclipse Implement Works, Kirkcaldy
Eclipse (ricklifter) – Wm Dickie & Sons Ltd, Victoria Works, East Kilbride 
Empire (potato spinner) – J. Bisset & Sons Ltd, Blairgowrie, Perthshire 
Evenrow (potato coverer) – Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Farmec (tractor cabs) – Farm Mechanization Ltd, Ladybank, Fife 
Fife (tractor cabs) – Farm Mechanization Co. Ltd, Ladybank, Fife 
Flintrite (plough fittings) – Cruickshank & Co. Ltd, Denny Iron Works, Denny, Stirlingshire 
Goodall (ensilage cutter) – Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Grain Master (grain blower) – Scottish Mechanical Light Industries Ltd, ScotMec Works, 42-44 Waggon Road, Ayr 
Handigrip – William Elliot, 48 High Street, Hawick 
Handy (ricklifter) – Wm Dickie & Sons Ltd, Victoria Works, East Kilbride 
Henderland (plough shares, cultivator, turnip cutter) – Geo. Henderson Ltd, Kelso, Roxburghshire 

Hunter Crown (horse hoe) – A. & W. Pollock, Implement Works, Mauchline, Ayrshire 
Ideal (fertiliser distributor, turnip lifter), Macdonald Brothers, Portsoy 
Imperial (fertilser distributor) – Alex. Jack & Sons Ltd, Cassillis Road, Maybole 
Larbert (sack and bale loader) – A. Scott, North Broomage, Larbert, Stirlingshire 
Lochrin (fencing equipment, farm buildings) – William Bain & Co. Ltd, 80 Ebury Street, London 
McRobert (potato sorter) – Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Milton (foot mixer) – Andrew Young & Son, 51 High Craighall Road, Glasgow 
Mollison (potato spinner) – The Forfar Foundry Ltd, Forfar, Angus 
Monarch (windmill) – John McBain & Son Ltd, Chirnside, Duns 
Monarch (wire strainer) – David Lauder, 2-6 Portland Street, Kilmarnock 
Multiplanter (cabbage, leek, tomato planter) – A. M. Russell Ltd, Sinton Works, Gorgie Road, Edinburgh

New Champion (root drill) – J. L. & J. Ballach, Gorgie Implement Works, Edinburgh 
New Don (fertiliser distributor) – Wm R Reid & Leys Ltd, 8 Hadden Street, Aberdeen 
Nu-Sort (potato sorter) – Jas. Crichton, Turriff, Aberdeenshire 
Oliver Clectrack (agricultural tracklayer) – John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Dennistoun, Glasgow 
Papec – (cutter-blower, green crop and hay chopping machine) – James Scott & Son (Aberdeen) Ltd, 483-5 Union Street, Aberdeen 
Perfect (potato spinner) – A. & W. Pollock, Implement Works, Mauchline 
Reekie (weeder, tractor cab, drill, hedge cutter) – Reekie Engineering Co. Ltd, Arbroath, Scotland 
Richardson (potato planter) – J. L. & J. Ballach Gorgie Implement Works, Edinburgh
Scotmec (hammer mill), Scotmec-Venturi (grain blower) – Scottish Mechanical Light Industries Ltd, 42-44 Waggon Road, Ayr 
Scotvent (grain blower) – Scottish mechanical Light Industries Ltd, 42-44 Waggon Road, Ayr 
Skidmaster (tyre girdle) – Wm Donaldson (Engineers) Ltd, Blackstoun Works, Linwood, Paisley 
Smallholder (threshing machine) – R. G. Garvie & Sons, 2 Canal road, Aberdeen 
Steelrite (plough attachments) – Cruickshank & Co. Ltd, Denny Iron Works, Denny, Stirlingshire 
Sternette (milk cooling and storage plant) – L. Sterne & Co. Ltd, Sternette Works, Kelvin Avenue, Hillington, Glasgow 

Sucklife (cutter-loader) – Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Superloy (drinking bowls, pig troughs, root cutters, hand rakes) – Potter, Cowan & Co., Ltd, 54 French Street, Glasgow 
Tip-It-All (trailers) – Eddie T. Y. Gray, Fairbank Works, Fetterangus, Aberdeenshire 
Torpedo (portable forge) – Portable Forge & Engineering Co. Ltd, 27 Thistle Street, Glasgow
Tractaid (trailer) – Scottish Farm Implements Ltd, Crosshouse, Kilmarnock 
Triplex (combined fertiliser distributor and dibbler) – Alex Jack and Sons Ltd, Cassillis Road, Maybole, Ayrshire 
Tullos-Wilmo (fertiliser distributor) – Tullos Ltd, Greenwell Road, Aberdeen 
Universal (fertiliser distributor) – J. & R. Wallace Ltd, The Foundry, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire 
Velox (soil steriliser) – Grampian Engineering & Motor Co. Ltd, Causewayhead, Stirling 
Wallace of Ayr – John Wallace & Sons (Ayr) Ltd, Townhead Works, Ayr 
Water buffalo (tracklayer) – James A. Cuthbertson Ltd, Station Road, Bigger, Lanarkshire 

What trade marks and names do you recall?

Grain harvesting technologies have changed considerably in the last 150 years – from the cycle, scythe to the reaping machine and the combine. Back in August 1922 the North British Agriculturist commented on the progress in tractor harvesting.

Back then tractor harvesting was still in its infancy in Britain: tractors were still only used on a relatively small number of farms and the horse still remained king. But there was some progress:

“There is not the least doubt that the use of the tractor in harvesting is being put to a severe test this season, and if it emerges satisfactorily it will be a triumph for mechanical farming. On the other hand there is equally no doubt that many farmers are metaphorically tearing their hair – when they have any left – over the shortcomings of their motive power. Many a man is calling himself a particular kind of fool for ever sinking so many hundreds of pounds in an engine. Now, it is unfortunately a very bad season for tractor work of this kind, while no one has as yet had experience enough in the new methods of working the tractor with the binder to get the best results; anyway, there is still much against a successful outcome. Take, for instance, a case known to us. When engine and binder are running all right then the work goes on right merrily. When turning at the corners the man on the binder
steps off, whips one sheaf only out of the way of the tractor in turning, and lithely regains his seat before the binder enters the corn again. Unfortunately, there is a lot of “wire-seed”-a variety of knot-grass-among the corn which frequently chokes the binder, necessitating a stoppage; next, the tractor will not start, from the sparking-plug being choked up or from such other such trouble, and so one worry follows another, and time is wasted; and our particular farmer friend wishes he had never bought a tractor at all! Then, the speed at which a tractor runs shakes a binder all to pieces, and the gear has often to be set on the second speed, which again means less work being done. Many who have been cutting at high tractor speed with the horse binder and finding to their cost how quickly the life of their machine is being reduced. It is possible, of course, to get large, powerful binders specially built for tractor work, but this means a lot more outlay of capital; and, while an 8-ft sitting bar is all right for a light standing crop, it is apt to be muddled up in heavy tangled stuff-especially in a year like this when so many fields have been “laid” by wind and rain, and grass seed has been sown along with corn.

Many farmers, on account of these troubles, who own tractors and believe in their use, have come to the conclusion that they are better served by horses in harvest time, and that the proper function of the tractor engine is rather to do and to make up against time the heavy work of ploughing, sub-soiling, cultivating, &c. Sub-soiling, particularly, is coming to the front in these days, and, as we lately pointed out, it will now be possible to sub-soil in a way which is beyond the power of horses. In the case of the binder, however, three horses-or even two-can go steadily on for a good long day, while, if one horse in a team gets played out, another can be substituted-a point in favour of horse labour. Further, in harvest time, as a rule, the horses might just as well be working as running loose when the tractor is taking their place. Nevertheless, the tractor has come to stay in harvesting as in other kinds of farm work. Every farmer past middle age can remember the introduction of the binder, but some of the old brigade can recall the advent of the original reaping machine itself, and can also remember what a terrible “hash” it made of the job in its early stages. It took a long time to train men and horses to be able to handle one of these machines satisfactorily, and it took a long time to develop and improve them. The same applies to the string binder, and it is only a short time since they were brought to their present state of efficiency. Why! it was only this week that a well-known Lothian farmer remarked to us that he had never experienced a season when the binder had tackled so efficiently laid crops in many difficult positions, and he was quite surprised at the small amount of stuff which had to be dealt with by the scythe. Tis all goes to show that the binder, in its present state of efficiency, is being better understood by those who have to handle it. We are in a state of transition, and as the time goes on we shall get tractors and other machines more and more improved, an -what is of equal importance- we shall learn better how to use them.

A notable English authority believes in, and advocates the harvesting of grain on the Californian method, i.e. the corn thrashed out as it is being cut, so that only the straw has to be stacked for use; but on this system the grain must be kiln-dried to store up. The tractor, of course, would give power such as could never be obtained from horses for this method of working. Such a modus operandi could only be adopted in the South of England, of course, but it would not be safe to condemn it off-hand, for one never knows the inventive age what developments the near future may see! Our grandfathers harvested their corn with the reaping-hook, and never dreamed of even a string-binder; now we have the tractor going with the binder, and time will improve the combination. There are other developments in connection with tractor work in harvesting, however, to which some attention right be given. The stocking machine, though at present unsuited to the wet we have to reckon with in Scotland, is a practical success, and can now be hitched on to the binder, and the tractor will work both. The immediate future will likely see developments in this direction. Again, a common custom in the USA is to hang on a disc cultivator behind the binder and thus scarify the soil as the work of cutting proceeds, thus at one operation helping to get rid of weeds and making good preparation for the next crop. These are two or three subsidiary developments which, as time goes on, will become more and more common as part of tractor work in the harvest field.

It is interesting to note the predictions back in 1922 – and our views of looking back to what they thought in 1922.

The photographs were taken at Scotland’s Farming Yesteryear, September 2014.

Adverts for tractor dealers provide one way that we can find out who and where the first tractors were being sold in Scotland. Another way is to see where tractors were being used. Farm displenishing sale notices in newspapers provide evidence of where some of the earliest tractors were used and the context in which they were being used. They list the tractors alongside all the other implements and machines on the farm. 

There are few adverts for the “Glasgow tractor”. However, one had been used at the Mains of Dun, Angus, by Robert Rodger. After he died in the summer of 1921 a displenishing sale was arranged which comprised, according to The Scotsman of 10 August 1921, “1 Glasgow tractor, only been in use one season, in very good order; cultivator self-lifter for tractor; disc harrow; Cockshutt plough, 3 furrow; binder, 6 feet for tractor; and all the implements required on a large farm.” In total there were 398 lots. There was a “record attendance” at the sale, according to the Dundee Courier of 19 August 1921. It noted that there were “farmers and dealers from all over Scotland”. The implements and machines had “a very sharp trade” and “highly satisfactory prices” were received. The Glasgow tractor sold for £210.Mr Baird, the incoming tenant, was an extensive purchaser. 

The adverts were more usually for Mogul, Titan and Avery Tractors. They started to appear in displenishing sales notices from late 1919 onwards. They were largely used on the larger farms, including Mains of Home farms, where there were a range of arable activities, including the growing and harvesting of green crops, being undertaken. They were also being used alongside horse drawn implements and machines – and also alongside teams of horses as well. 

The following are extracts from farm displenishing sale notices which included these early tractors. Notice the large number of implements and machines for sale as well as the range of “modern” implements of the day: there is a considerable amount of mechanisation being used on the farms to make the range of tasks of indoor and outdoor work as easy to undertake as possible. 

Flawcraig, Errol, Perthshire (notice in Dundee courier, 31 October 1919) 
Implements- “Mogul” tractor, 3 furrow plough, large disc harrow, water tank, 4 coup carts, 4 iron carts, 4 metal rollers, 2 brake harrows, 1 4-horse grubber, set circular harrows, 4 set harrows, 4 drill grubbers, potato digger, 2 D. M. ploughs, 2 Sellar ploughs, 4 American ploughs, turnip shawer, 2 turnip cutters, 3 binders, 2 mowers, 2 Hunter hoes, cultivator, 5 cattle troughs, horse rake, manurer distributor, cake crusher, potato boxes, barn fanners, steelyard and weights, 4 sets cart and plough harness & c and the usual barn and stable utensils.

The Home Farm, Parkhill (notice in Aberdeen press and journal, 30 April 1920)
Implements-2 binders (Massey Harris), Albion mower, 1 disc drill sowing machine (Deering), 1 broadcast sowing machine, 1 turnip sowing machine, 1 manure distributor, 1 potato digger (Martin’s patent), 1 horse rake, 2 drag rakes, 5 single ploughs, 2 D. B. ploughs, 1 water furrow plough, 3 shim ploughs, 1 three drill plough, 1 seven tined cultivator, 3 water furrer combined, 4 stone rollers, 4 box carts (with tops), 2 long carts (with hay tops), 1 lorry (30 cwt), 1 cattle float, 1 pig’s float, governess car (suit 15 h.h.), 8 sets of harrows, including angle, chain, drag, grass seed, and potato; 3 grubbers (4, 3, and 2 horse), barn fan, weighing machine and weights, 4 box barrows, 2 peat barrows, scythes, wire fencing, yokes and swingletrees, cattle feeding troughs, turnip slicers, 6 sets cart and plough harness, pony harness, and all the usual stable furnishings, including power clipping machine, smithy tools, dairy utensils, including 2 crank churns and 2 plump churns, butter worker, etc, etc. Also, “Mogul” tractor No. B5268, speed 400, hp 16-20, in perfect working order, 1 portable threshing machine, 3 ½ feet, double blast finishing, by Clayton and Shuttleworth, in splendid order; 1 three furrow Cock Shoot tractor plough, steel sheaths; 1 two furrow plough, by Sellar and Son, Huntly, and a number of spares. 

Easter Caputh, Murthly (notice in Dundee courier, 9 November 1920) 
Implements-5 coup carts, corn carts, 4 senior Dux ploughs, swing ploughs, drill ploughs, 3 furrow tractor plough, 3 sets harrows, grass seed harrows, 2 two-horse grubbers, 3 drill grubbers, Hunter hoe, Martin’s cultivator, spring-toothed harrow, circular harrow, corn drill, manure sowing machine, double drill and manure sower (by Wallace), Richmond potato planter, 2 Deering binders, 1 Wood binder, 2 mowers, horse rake, hay rake, turnip cutter, pulper, cake breaker, grist mill, saw bench, sheep dipper and tanks, sheep haiks, troughs, stakes and netting, field feed house on wheels, potato dresser (Phoenix), potato barrow, 2 wheel-barrows, 2 steelyards and weights, sack lifter, corn chest, oil tank (130 gals), 2 steel barrels, drums, 2 straw bunkers, cattle troughs, fire clay troughs, portable boiler, boilers, moveable hen house, coops etc; 20 sleepers, ladders, props, bosses, oil iron &c, governess car, the horse harness, and the usual barn and stable implements and land tools; also, Titan tractor and Avery tractor, both in first class order. 

Harvieston, Kinneff (notice in Aberdeen press and journal, 11 November 1921)
Implements-Mogul tractor 10-20hp; Sellar tractor, 3 furrow plough, tractor grubber (all as new), 4 box carts with tops, 1 long cart, 1 long cart body, dogcart, 3 iron single ploughs, M.P. plough, 2 D.B. ploughs, plough hurley, 2 sets spring-toothed harrows, set of chain harrows, 3 scrapers, 1 McCormick binder, 6ft cut (almost new); 1 Bisset binder (in good order), mower, potato digger, horse rake, 2 turnip sowing machines (almost new), manure distributor, 2 metal rollers, broadcast sowing machine, barn fan, weighing machine and weights, and other barn furniture; wire and wooden fencing, 3 sets cart and plough harness, gig harness and odd harness, yokes and swingletrees, cart ropes, coir yarn, 2 stack covers, sowing happer, ladders, picks, spades, forks, hoes, graips, and the usual assortment of minor farm implements. 

Muirton, Memsie (notice in Aberdeen press and journal, 28 April 1922)
Implements- Mogul tractor, in splendid order; tractor grubber, tractor pole, portable threshing mill, 54in drum, by Marshall and Sons; bruiser, practically new; 60ft endless Belatta belt; 2 box carts, with hay tops and creels; water cart, horse rake, 2 Bisset binders, spare binder parts, metal roller, metal pump, double furrow plough, 2 single ploughs, harrow hurley, spring-toothed harrows, iron harrows, wooden harrows, drill sowing machines, 2 shims, mower, oilcake breaker, spare wheels and axle, 3 box barrows, plump hasher, corn chest, field feeding trough, Martin potato digger, Ballach scarifier, ladders, various sizes; clipping machine, bench, water barrels and tubs, paraffin cask, 2 scythes, chicken coops, grains, forks, hoes, spades, shovels, fencing posts and wire, etc. Two sets of cart and plough harness, stall halters and stable furnishings. 

Gateside Farm, Bridge of Earn (notice in Dundee courier, 3 November 1922) 
Implements-2 25hp Mogul tractors, 16hp Titan tractor, Wyles tractor plough, Ford delivery van, all in working order; 4 Eagle Tractor Waggons, 2 6-ft McCormick and Wood’s binders, 3 corn carts, 6 coup carts, hay mower, double driller and combined manure sower, turnip sower, grass sowing machine, corn bruiser and grister (combined), cake breaker, horse cultivator, horse rake, thistle cutter, corn drill, horse roller, manure distributor, hay collector, 2 tumbling rakes, set circular harrows, turnip pulper, portable boiler, 2 drill ploughs, 3 set harrows, 6 Wood’s 2 wheel ploughs, 3 food coolers, incubators and brooders, harnesses for 3 pairs horses, stable utensils; dairy utensils, including 6 5-gallon flasks, refrigerator, weighing machine, barrows, potato sack filler, swingle trees, feeding boxes and troughs sheep haiks, scythes, shovels, &c

Craighead, Blairdrummond (notice in Dundee courier, 14 November 1923) 
Implements – Overtime tractor, 28hp, fitted with belt pulley, suitable for fireld or stationary work, in good mechanical order; Fordson tractor (as new condition), 2 cultivators (Newlands and Ransomes), the latter with mould boards for ridging potatoes, horse rake (Newlands), turnip sower; 9ft iron roller for horse or tractor, 6ft iron roller for horse or tractor, broadcast sower (Sheriff’s, Dunbar), 18ft for seeds or grain, hay tedder (Blackstone), Massey Harris binder (6ft cut), for horse or tractor (new condition), Massey Harris binder (5ft cut), 3 hay waggons, 6 box and coup carts, 3 sets diamond harrows, brake harrows, disc harrows (International Harvester) for tractor (new), set spring tooth harrows, set chain harrows, set saddle harrows, hay horse fork, hay horse crane fork (Wilson’s); Hunter hoe, one horse grubber, potato planter (Jack’s), stone roller, 2 Oliver 110a ploughs, 1 I.R.D.C.P. Ransome ploughs, 3 swing ploughs (high cutters and plain), Massey Harris D.F. plough for horses; La Crosse tractor plough (2, 3 or 4 furrows), D. F. tractor ploughs (Speedy); drill plough, Imperial manure sower, triangle, 2 Dickie hay slipes (horse or hand power), Massey Harris mower, set fanners (Scoular’s patent), turnip cutter, turnip pulper, Bamford’s bruiser and grinder for power; hay chopper for power, 9 brake hp engine by Wilson, Aberdeen, fitted with Magneto (unless previously sold), 18-in circular saw bench and belting, 50 gallon oil tank with pump, potato digger (Jack’s Imperial), cake crusher (Bentall’s) for hand or power, grindstone; Stewart’s horse clipping machine, 3 barrows, 2 brooders (Miller’s and Sussex types), dozen coops, portable henhouse to hold 30 hens, horse box (sectional), 5 ladders (20 feet and 12 ft), knife sharpener and stand, swing trees, steelyard and weights (White, Auchtermuchty), 2 corn chests, 2 churns, 300 stack props and a few sleepers, 1 dozen fireclay troughs, 5 sets harness, backbands, also the usual large assortment of barn, byre, stable and dairy utensils &c
Note – special attention is drawn to the implements, which are in excellent order. 

Interestingly, Harvieston, Kinneff, Kincardineshire, was one of the earliest farms in Scotland to use steam ploughing. This was in the late 1850s. It was to again use steam ploughing in the mid 1920s, through a set hired from Sam Hird, Sauchenshaw. That set can still be found around the rally fields (non-covid years) as the ploughing engine “Sam Hird”, owned by the Barrack family. 

The “Titan” and “Mogul” tractors were photographed at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum and the Manitoba Car Museum.

Most readers will associate the scythe as an implement from a byegone era. Writing in 1844 in The Book of the Farm, Henry Stephens noted that “every species of grain is cut down with two small instruments, the scythe or the sickle. The scythe can only be used by men, the sickle by both women and men. Reapers with the scythe must not only be strong men, capable of undergoing great fatigue, but they must use the instrument dexterously, otherwise they will make rough work and create confusion in the harvest field, where every operation ought to be carried on with precision and least loss of time. The scythesman requires a person to follow him and carefully gather the corn he has mown into sheaves in bands, previously laid down for the purpose, and no person is better fitted for this office than a woman. Another person follows the woman, the bandster, whose duty, as his name implies, is to bind the sheaves made by the woman, with the bands he finds lying under them. Another person follows all these, and clears the ground of every loose head of corn with a large rake, and this person may either be a man or a woman. (p. 1050) 

Though the technology on the harvest field changes significantly with the development of reapers and binders, scythes still continued to have their place well into the twentieth century. On 31 July 1931, John Hislop & Son, ironmonger and plumbers, Market Place, Carluke, advertised “seasonable lines for the farmer”. These included: “hay rakes, rake teeth, hay forks, reaper and mill saw files, carborundum scythe and reaper stones, scythe blades and sneds, and reaping hooks, stack rope and binder twine.” These included all the hand tools associated with reaping by scythe including sharpeners and rakes as well as blades. 

Hyslop was not the only ironmonger to advertise scythes and their associated tools. In Aberdeenshire, on 12 September James Mackie & Co., Ltd, ironmongers, seedsmen, grocers, wine and spirit merchants advertised his wares for the harvest field in the Aberdeen press and journal: “large selection of carborundum files, reaper and saw files, oilers, scythe blades, sneds, scythe strickles, stable pails, stable brooms, dandy brushes, horse and cattle comns, bolts and nuts, lanterns, paraffin drums, tanks, and flasks; and all seasonable requirements. Binder and stack covers, different sizes, best value.” His range also includes tools and requirements for working with the modern binders. 

In 1931 the scythe was seen as an essential hand tool on the farm – at least in Aberdeenshire. They could be found listed in the contents of displenishing sales, at for example the farms of Waterside of Forbes, Mill of Ennets (Torphins), Middleton (Findon), Milton (Gight, Methlick), Ardoe, Muiryhaugh, Strachan, Rickarton, and Glenhead (Kenmay).

However, in 1931 the scythe continued to be a much valued hand tool. On 26 August that year the Aberdeenshire press and journal noted that “a boom in the sale of scythes is expected by Aberdeen firms of agricultural implement dealers this harvest time in view of the fact that so many fields of grain have been “laid” by recent storms.” It added: “on the last occasion on which harvests were laid low, said an employee of a well-known form to a “Press and Journal” representative, we sold an enormous number of scythes, and while as yet it is rather early to expect orders, we are preparing for a similar demand this year.”

Scythes were essential during poor harvests when the crops were laid and weather intermittent. As the Arbroath herald and advertiser noted on 4 September 1931: “last year quite a number of scythes were put into use in this district at harvest time, and many farmers who had rid themselves of these implements found difficulty in getting supplies in time.” 

They continued to be used to open up fields and were invaluable to cut sections that had been “laid” by wind or/and rain that could not be cut by the binder. Writing on harvesting in Mid-Atholl, the Dundee Courier of 1 September 1931 noted their uses “where heads are twisted in all directions the scythe”. It also noted that “some of the heads will be cut green for the feeding of stock, as the grain will not now ripen satisfactorily for milling purposes”. 

Scythes – an essential hand tool for helping the farmer in difficult harvests.

The photographs were taken at the National Tractor Show.

Sharp knives were important for harvesting a range of crops, including the grain crop regardless of how it was cut: sickle, scythe, reaping machine or combine harvester.

In 1908 Stephen’s Book of the Farm was updated by James Macdonald. It included a short description of the importance of having a sharp knife: “Keep the knives as sharp as possible, as good work and light draught cannot be had without sharp knives. Where two or more reapers are kept going, it is advisable to keep one man sharpening knives, as then they are always in good repair, and cutting goes on more smoothly and rapidly than when the driver has to look after not only his horses but his mower and knives as well. The most common method of sharpening the knives of reapers is with a fine file for the purpose. Machines for sharpening are now in use to some extent.” Macdonald noted that there was one made by Harrison, McGregor & Co.. 

Knife sharpeners had been in use for some time before that date. On 23 July 1894 G. W. Murray & Co., Banff, advertised its Victory Knife Sharpener in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. In that same month another local maker, Ben Reid & Co., Bon Accord Works, Aberdeen, advertised its automatic reaper knife sharpener. By 1890 C. F. Wilson & Co., Aberdeen, was advertising its Plano Sickle Grinders as “the best reaper knife sharpener ever offered to farmers”. Some also became especially sophisticated. In 1908 the Aberdeen Press and Journal recorded that at the Highland Show, P. & R. Fleming and Co., Argyle Street, Glasgow, exhibited a “section remover and knife sharpener, by means of which farmers can remove and repair old blades of harvesting machines, etc. It is a very handy implement.” Other makers of knife sharpeners included J. L. & J. Ballach, agricultural implement makers, Gorgie, Edinburgh. A number of these can still be seen around the rally fields. In 1952 David Ritchie, Whitehills, Forfar, manufactured knife-sharpening stands. 

Do you remember sharpening knives at harvest time?

The photographs were taken at the Borders Vintage Rally, May 2015.

The Royal Show, or the annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England was a key event in the agricultural calendar, especially for English agriculturists. Scottish ones did attend, though their attendance varied according to the location of the show. The same was true for the Scottish implement and machine makers, though some did specially attend when they had new manufactures to show to the public, or when there were key trials for which they wanted to enter.

The number of Scottish exhibitors was generally small. They usually included some of the key ones. They brought with them their major manufactures to introduce them to an English and wider audience. These included ones that they were renowned for as well as improved ones. They also included ones that they considered filled a niche within the market for implements and machines.

The Scotsman included a lengthy account of the Scottish exhibitors to the Royal Show in July 1925. It is worth quoting at length as it says a lot about what was innovative and important about Scottish agricultural implement and machines and who were some of the most important makers. It states: 

“For the third time in his history the Royal Agricultural Society of England is this year visiting Chester, and the show which was opened to-day in the implement department promises to be one of the most successful that has yet been held by the premier agricultural society of the Kingdom. It is thirty two years since the last Royal Show was held at Chester, which resulted in financial profit of £2404. 

The showyard
The site of the showyard at Saltney is an admirable one in every respect, being within easy reach of the railway stations, and owing to its surroundings being almost secluded, about 130 acres have been enclosed as compared with 70 acres in 1893.

So numerous are the exhibits in the implement yard that no less than 11,000 feet had to be provided for the 438 separate stands, and in addition there are many “open space” exhibits. The collection of machinery is not only varied but comprehensive, and embraces all the most recent inventions which agriculture engineering skill has produced. The leading firms in England are strongly represented, and visitors may spend hours very profitably in witnessing at work the many appliances which steam, petrol, and electricity have enabled the implement manufacturer to bring to bear on the economy of the farm. Thirty new implements have been entered for the Society’s silver medal, as against 39 at Chester in 1893. A number of these can hardly be described as strictly new, but they all contain some improvement in details which secures greater perfection in construction and more efficiency in working. Two new implements are entered by Scottish exhibitors. Messrs John Wallace & Sons, Glasgow, show a potato digger which is fitted with adjustable graips, trees for two or three horses, and a patent wheel gig arrangement. Messrs Storie, Ltd, Kelso, exhibit a surface sowing coulter, with disc shoe, which can be fitted to any make of drill.

There are more than a dozen Scottish implement makers represented, and considering the expense that is involved in the conveyance of a large collection of heavy implements, they make a creditable appearance. Taking the exhibitors from the north of the Tweed in the order in which they appear in the catalogue, the first stand is that of Messrs Barclay, Ross, & Hutchison Ltd, Aberdeen, who show threshers and a manure distributor. Messrs W. Elder & Sons, Ltd, Berwick on Tweed, have a large display of broadcast sowing machines, turnip sowers, drill rollers, coup carts, hay bogies, and thistle and bracken cutter. The Aberdeen firm, Messrs R. G.Garvie & Sons, show thrashing machines with bagging elevator, an artificial manure distributor, a saw bench, and a broadcast seed sower

Messrs George Henderson, Leith Street, Edinburgh, display their Waverley manure distributors with patent enclosed and self-lubricating driving mechanism, a thistle cutter, corn bins, hay collector, water troughs, and fencing plant.

Ayrshire is represented by Messrs Alex. Jack & Sons, Maybole, who have on view their patent potato diggers, which have provision for altering the set or angle of the digging forks, Imperial manure distributors, lime and basic slag distributors farm carts, and horse hoes. 

Messrs Marshall & Philip, Aberdeen, make a feature of spraying machines. The Dumfriesshire firm of Messrs John S. Millar & Son, Annan, specialise in windmills, cream separators, churns, and pumps, of which they show a large variety. Messrs Storie, have a large assortment of implements, including manure distributor, drill scarifier, and turnip and manure sower manufactured by the Leith firm, Messrs A. Ballach & Sons. Vaccar Ltd, Gretna, show pumps, milking units, and samples of lubricating oils.

Messrs John Wallace & Sons, Glasgow, have the largest Scottish exhibit, which includes the Wallace engines, the Glasgow cultivators, horse hoes, corn bruisers, chaff cutters, oilcake breakers, grinding mills, and Oliver ploughs. Messrs J. & R. Wallace, Castle Douglas, show their Royal medal milking machine and manure distributors. Messrs Watson, Laidlaw, and Co., Glasgow, has a varied collection of cream separators, including a belt-driven separator of 900 gallon capacity. Messrs A. Cross & Sons, Glasgow, are among the exhibitors of chemical manures and feeding stuffs.”

There are some big names there!

A century ago there was an “imposing exhibition” of implements and machines at the Royal Show which was held at Derby. While the Show was largely attended by English makers, a few Scottish makers also attended. This year they had an “imposing display” These were among some of the most important ones with nationally known – and also international – reputations. Their attendance provides information about who were the important makers in Scotland and what implements they saw as being important for the English market. 

The Scotsman provided a comprehensive account of the Scottish implements at the Royal Show in its pages on 28 June 1921. It is worth quoting at length: 

“The Scottish implements trade is well represented in the imposing exhibition. In the implement section, which was the only department open to-day, several firms from the other side of the Border exhibit typical collections of the agricultural appliances which are manufactured in the northern part of the kingdom, and in the products of which the makers show a considerable amount of skill and enterprise. Two of them are from Ayrshire, and are firms which are never absent from the national Shows of England and Scotland. Messrs Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole, as usual, represented by a selection of implements so long associated with their business. They have always made a speciality of their Caledonian and Imperial potato diggers, and these are shown with all the latest improvements. As specimens of their manure distributors they exhibit four of the new finger-wheel delivery class. The farm carts with coup body are a type which the firm have introduced from Scotland to England.

Messrs Thomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole, have a stand is useful articles, including their manure distributors with transport and ordinary chain, and cultivating appliances. The enterprising makers, Wallace, Glasgow (Ltd), are the largest of the North country exhibitors, their stand comprising some thirty different articles of farm husbandry. In the forefront are their well-known Glasgow tractors, which have received with great favour by prominent farmers in the Lothians and throughout Scotland and England. One of the tractors is shown on an inclined green bank, illustrating the hill-climbing feat which it performed at the recent Lincoln trials. They also show the Oliver self-lift tractor ploughs, automatic tractor disc harrows specially designed for light tractors, potato planters, and diggers, and a combined double-drill plough and manure distributor.
Messrs J. & R. Wallace, Castle-Douglas, show, in addition to different types of manure distributors, their milking machine, which is a popular labour-saving device in the dairies of the South-West and West of Scotland. It is now fitted with the new ball type pulsator, which requires no oil. Messrs William Elder & Sons, Berwick-on-Tweed, have no fewer than sixteen separate articles on view. Their broadcast sowing machines are shown in various sizes, and have been adapted to suit different quantities of seed. Prominent on the stand is a turnip-cutting cart. Their double-drill turnip, mangold, and rape sower is fitted to sow ten different quantities of seed. Hay bogies, scarifiers, and other articles in use at this season are included in a varied and extensive collection. 

Among the exhibitors from Aberdeen are Messrs Robert G. Garvie & Sons, who show a combined portable thresher and oil engine mounted on a rigid frame, and fitted for use by one or two horses, threshing machines, and manure distributors. Messrs Barclay, Ross & Hutchinson exhibit the Austin tractor thrashing machines, manure distributors, and a cultivator. The Bon Accord Engineering Company have on view a thrashing machine, 3 feet 6 inches wide, and two smaller types, oil engines, pumps for water or liquid manure, and drain-clearing rods. Messrs Marshall & Philp, Aberdeen, show a series of spraying machines for limewashing and fruit trees. The known Aberdeenshire makers, Messrs Sellar, make a feature of their ploughs, which are shown in great variety. Their wave disc manure sower and their scarifier disc drill are implements of proved utility. Among exhibitors of wind-mills are Messrs Millar & Sons, Annan, who show two of their wind-mills and pumps suitable for different requirements. They also show their automatic cream separators, combining petrol motor and separator in one unit, as well as churns.

Messrs Watson, Laidlaw & Company, Glasgow, exhibit eight “Princess” cream separators of various sizes, the largest having a capacity of 330 gallons. The Dairy Supply Company have an extensive stand on which they show the Amo milking machine, a pasteuriser, a complete milk plant for grading, a “milk cream separator”, and other dairy utensils.
The East Lothian maker, Mr David Wilson, East Linton, has half a dozen exhibits. The principal one is his potato raiser a machine adapted for raising potatoes, sugar beet, and bulb crops. He also shows a one-horse potato haulm cutter, potato sorters, a potato washing machine, and a mixing machine and riddle combined for mixing artificial manures.” 

All of these names are ones that come up again and again as attending at the Royal Show. The manufactures are of particular types: the basic implements and machines required on a farm, as well as threshing machines and oil engines which utilised the Scottish engineering tradition. They also show innovation, as in the Glasgow Tractor. Their manufactures can still be seen around the rally fields (in non-covid-19 times).

During the summer months there were plenty of jobs to do on the farm to keep it looking trim. This included keeping down weeds, including thistles. On some farms bracken could be a problem. Both were not the easiest to remove. Hand tools were available to take out thistles in pasture. These enabled the thistle to be pulled out at ground level. Mechanical means were much more efficient. 

By 1952 farmers could buy a number of machines to cut bracken and thistles. The Farm Mechanization Directory of that year lists 6 makers, of which three are Scottish. Two are well known makers of implements and machines: J. Bisset & Sons Ltd, Greenbank Works, Blairgowrie, and the other James A. Cuthbertson Ltd, Station Road, Biggar. The third was more locally known: G. C. Irving, Main Street, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire. 

The machines made by Bisset and Cuthbertson were both tractor drawn. The one made by Bisset was of a horizontal rotary propellor type and landwheel driven. It could be used for bracken, thistles and other weeds. Cuthbertson made a multi-wheel cutter machine which was adaptable to undulations of the ground. The one made by Irving was a self-propelled machine. It was a self-propelled machine, with the operator walking behind it. It was powered by a Villiers engine and had a 4ft wide cutter bar. 

English machines were made by W. M. Brenton, East Cornwell Iron Works, Torpoint, Cornwall, Crawford, Prince & Johnston Ltd, Syston, Leicestershire and R. S. Warren, Covert Lane, Scraptoft, Thurnby, Leicester.

Implement makers and their premises in the mid nineteenth century 

I am always interested to find accounts of what the premises of our Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers look like. ScotlandsPlaces website includes the Ordnance Survey Namebooks which 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. For example, in Maybole, Ayrshire, where Alexander Jack set up business, the Namebook records that between 1855-57 there was a sawmill – “Recently built and carried on by Mr A. Jack-a very extensive sawmill with a large storeroom and engine [house] connected to it – one of the houses [three,] the other two storey slated and in excellent repair – saws driven by an engine 10 horse power- Property of A. Jack.”

There are relatively few premises in Scotland that were recorded as an “agricultural implement” manufactory or premises. One of them was in the parish of Huntly, Aberdeenshire: the “Agricultural Implement Works” at Factory Brae. This was “a large block of buildings in which are manufactured ploughs, harrows, and various other agricultural implements. Messrs Sellar & Son, proprietors.” By that time the ploughs and other manufactures of George Sellar & Son were well known in Scotland and further afield. 

There is another “Agricultural Implement Manufactory” in Shettleston Parish, recorded between 1858 to 1861. It was occupied by Law, Duncan & Co. It comprised: “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 largest number of references to “agricultural implement” works was in Lanarkshire, in the parish of Bothwell. These names were collected between 1858 and 1861. These related to two businesses and to three implement manufactories: those relating to J. Gray & Co., J. Hornall, and those of J. Waddell & Sons of Crofthead which had been used by John Wilkie of the famous Wilkie plough fame. Here is what the Name Books state about the premises: 

1. Near Townhead: Agricultural Implement Manufactory, “A large house made of zinc & 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 & iron. Locomotives are also made, but they are for agricultural purposes. Wrought by the Proprietor in Company with others.- J. Gray & Co. 

2. Agricultural implement Manufactory “A Manufactory for producing all descriptions of implements used in Agriculture. This 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”. 

Crofthead “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. The garden of Crofthead is on the opposite side of the Road-the west.” 

3. Agricultural implement Manufactory “A Manufactory for making all kinds of Agricultural Implements. [ ] let by J. Hornall, the propert[] of Mr Gray. There is a long wooden shed here for sawing timber in.”

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. A new study that does this really well is A. M. Findlay’s, The Wilkie Plough, as part of her research into the Wilkie family of Uddingston, Lanarkshire. It tells the story of the development in its local setting of John Wilkie whose Wilkie plough became known throughout Scotland and much wider. The Wilkie Plough was an important part of the Agricultural Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century and a key plough in the development of ploughs and ploughing in Scotland and further afield. Copies are available on Amazon or through A. M. Findlay at uddingstonfolk@gmail.com. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilkie-Plough-Crofth…/…/ref=sr_1_1…

Source: The photograph of the Gray of Uddingston plough was taken at the Scottish National Tractor Show, September 2013.