Out and about – Page 56 – Scottish agricultural implement makers

Straw ropes: a feature of harvests of yesteryear

Straw ropes had a number of uses on the farms. One of them was for thatching stacks at harvest time.

Here is what James MacDonald wrote about stack ropes and the making of straw ropes in Stephen’s Book of the Farm in 1908:

“Stack ropes – For tying down thatch or holding form the top of stacks, straw ropes, once universally used, are now being supplanted by coir-ropes or yarn. This latter material is cheap, durable, and convenient to use. If well cared for, it should last three or more years; and many farmers contend that, especially on large farms, or where straw and labour are both scarce and dear, the coir-rope is cheaper than the straw-rope.

Straw rope making – Nevertheless, straw-ropes are still largely employed, and where they can be made without any appreciable addition to the labour bill, they will likely continue to be used. … Straw-ropes are made by means of the implement named the throw-cock. Various forms of this instrument are in use. … An improved form of spinner consists of a simple contrivance by which one person is enabled to spin two or three ropes at one time. T he contrivance hangs from the shoulders of the spinner, who, by turning one handle, gives motion to two or three spindles, to each of which a rope is attached, the spinner moving backwards as the ropes increase in length.

Straw for ropes – The best sort of straw for making into ropes is that of the common or Angus oat, which, being soft and pliable, makes a firm, smooth, small, tough rope.

The ordinary length of a straw rope for a large stack is about 30 feet. Counting every interruption, a straw-rope of this length may take five minutes in the making-that is, 120 ropes in ten hours.”

Source: James Macdonald, Stephens’ book of the Farm, Edinburgh, 1908, pp. 195-6.

The photographs of the throw-cock and ropes were taken at Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, August 2014.

The latest in binders

The 1880s and 1890s saw important developments in machinery to harvest the grain crop. Binders entered the Scottish harvest field.

Scottish agents started to exhibit them at the Highland Show from 1882 onwards. By 1899 there were 11 Scottish machines being exhibited, though by all one maker, J. Bisset & Sons, Blairgowrie. Bisset exhibited its first binder at that show in 1887 and continued to market it as the only binder ‘entirely manufactured in Scotland’.

There were a good number of English makers of binders. They exhibited them in increasing numbers in the mid 1880s and 1890s, though the number of machines that the exhibited fell sharply after 1900.

The majority of binders were from America and Canada. Exhibitors and makers from these countries played an increasing role in the Highland Show from 1884. From the mid-1890s they came to dominate the exhibition of binders. As Henry Stephens notes in 1908 “the manufacture of combined reapers and binders is now carried on extensively by many eminent firms – Canadian and American machines competing strongly against British-made ones in our own country”.

The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland was keen to promote the adoption and use of binders in Scotland. During the mid 1890s it held a series of annual exhibition of binders at work, in conjunction with the Highland Show.

At the exhibition ay Mr Morton’s farm of Muirton, Perth, in August 1896 farmers and other agriculturists could see ten machines at work. They were from a range of makers. From Scotland, J. Bisset & Sons, Blairgowrie, exhibited its new patent open back steel-built binder, costing £44. Two other Scottish exhibitors acted as agents for major North American companies. James Gray & Co., Stirling, was agent for Adriance, Platt & Co., New York, and exhibited its rear discharge binder, costing £35. John Wallace & Sons, Glasgow, had the Canadian Massey-Harris open end elevating canvas binder made by Massey-Harris Co. Ltd, Brantford, Ontario.

There were four English makers. Three exhibited their own machines, also being major names on the harvest field: Harrison, McGregor & Co. Ltd, Leigh, Richard Hornsby & Sons Ltd, Grantham, Samuelson & Co. Ltd, Banbury. Another acted as an agent: Blackstone & Co. Ltd, Stamford, renowned for its hay-making machinery, had the ‘Bonnie binder’ made by The Johnstone Harvester Co., New York. Walter A. Wood M. & R. M. Co., with a London address, but a North American company, had its open rear harvester and binder, with transport attachment.

I wonder what farmers and agriculturists thought of the spectacle of seeing these new machines as they watched them hard at work at the Highland Society’s exhibition.

The selection of photographs of binders was taken at Scotland’s Farming Yesteryear, September 2014, and at Fife Agricultural Machinery rally, June 2015.

New Holland in Scotland in 1968

From the 1960s the New Holland name has been a feature of the Scottish harvest field with its combine harvesters and balers.

By 1968 the company already had already a wide network of dealerships throughout the country, with the focus on the eastern arable area. They were located at: West Cumberland Framers Ltd, Heathhall, Dumfries, Newton St Boswells, Kilmarnock

Thomas Sherriff & Company Ltd, West Barns, Dunbar, and Berwick on Tweed
Carnwath Agricultural Engineering Co. Ltd, Carnwath
Inch Agricultural Engneering Co. Ltd, Bathgate
Gillies & Henderson (Forfar) Lyd, Forfar
Gillies & Henderson (Perth) Ltd, Perth
Alexander Bros. (Watten), Wick
Elgin Central Engineers Ltd, Moycroft

Hamilton of Larkhall (Tractors) Ltd, Larkhall (branch, Stirling)
Cumming & Dempster, Banchory
A. & W. Pollock Ltd, Mauchline
Landmech Limited, Dumfries
Laggan Engineering Co. Ltd, Port Ellen, Islay
Barclay, Ross & Hutchison, Ltd, depots at Aberdeen, Turriff, Montrose and Huntly
Robertson of Tain Ltd, Tain
John L. Burnett Ltd, Pittenweem
Gillies & Henderson Ltd, Edinburgh, Fife, and Haddington.

Do you remember buying your New Holland harvesting equipment from any of these dealers?

The photographs of the New Holland balers and combine were taken at the Fife Vintage Rally, June 2014 and 2015.

An International lineup

Agricultural newspapers are a great source of information on Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers and dealers. They record, at the time of publication, a wide range of information about the advertisers and their activities. These include, business names and addresses, activities, implements and machines sold, dealerships, awards given, shows being attended (such as the Highland). They also record information about the standing of a company and its reputation as well as the reputation of its manufactures.
The major tractor manufacturers that advertised in the Scottish agricultural press in the past, such as Fordson and Ford, David Brown and International Harvester each had their own advertising strategies and messages that they wanted to give to the Scottish farmer and agriculturist.
An important message was to convey the wide availability of their tractors, and though this their popularity (as well as the easy availability of spares and servicing!). Ford and Fordson often printed lists of all its dealers (these were especially extensive in the 1950s and 1960s). I nternational Harvester also included these.

In 1960 International Harvester had a network of 26 dealers throughout Scotland. These were:
George Sellar & Son Ltd, 30 Great Northern Road, Aberdeen
Rickerby Ltd, High Street, Annan
Allan W. Reid (Ayr) Ltd, 58 Main Road, Whitletts
Grassick’s Garage Ltd, Commercial Street, Blairgowrie
Peter Small Ltd, Commerce Street, Brechin
John Huie & Co. Ltd, 60/64 Longrow, Campbeltown
James Gordon (Engineers) Ltd, New Market Street, Castle Douglas
John Rutherford & Sons Ltd, Station Garage, Cornhill on Tweed
A. Anderson, The Garage, Dingwall
Rickerby Ltd, Carnegie Street, Dumfries
John Rutherford & Sons Ltd, Rhymer’s Mill, Earlston
James Bowen & Sons Ltd, 45/49 Pitt Street, Edinburgh
Peter Small, Kirriemuir Road, Forfar
Wm Reid (Forres) Ltd, Forres
Allan W. Reid (Ayr) Ltd, Bridgemill, Glenluce
George Sellar & Son Ltd, Granary Street, Huntly
J. & W. Tait, Broad Street, Kirkwall
James Jack (Hyndford) Ltd, 7 Hyndford Place, Lanark
George Sellar & Sons Ltd, Laurencekirk
A. & J. Bowen & Co. Ltd, Markinch
George Sellar & Son Ltd, Victoria Street, Maud
Grassick’s Tractors Ltd, Crieff Road, Perth
Wilson’s Agricultural Services Ltd, Harvester House, Sandbank
Arneil Tractors Ltd, 50 Kirk Street, Strathaven
Wallace & McLaren Ltd, Main Street, Thornhill
John Coghill & Co., Thurso East, Thurso.

The distribution is an interesting one: most of the dealers are in eastern Scotland (where the best agricultural land was); there are few in the north of Scotland, though Orkney and Thurso are covered; there is no representative in Glasgow, though there is one at Lanark; the dealers are located in agricultural centres and some of the county towns; a small number of the dealers had a number of branches, especially in Aberdeenshire and Forfarshire; most of the dealers were limited companies.

An advertisement can provide a wide range of information about the making and selling of agricultural implements and machines (including tractors). Next time you see one, think about what it says about a business and its activities.

The photographs were taken at the Ayrshire Vintage Rally, July 2014 and 2015.

Tractors and their personal histories

Every tractor has its own story. You could say that every tractor has its own personal history. It includes details of where and how it was purchased, its cost, where it spent its working life, changes of owners as well as its servicing history. And into the preservation era, there are details of entry into preservation, refurbishment, shows attended, road runs and other charity events attended, and prizes awarded. And there are lots of anecdotal stories about what it was like working with the tractor, good times and bad.

Around the rally field we get some idea of aspects of the personal histories of tractors from the show catalogues. They include their details of make and model as well as the name of owner and date of production.

There is also evidence on the tractors themselves. Dealer plates provide an important source of information on the provenance of some of the tractors. Not all makers or dealers put a dealer plate on their tractors, but some did. They included Fordson and Ford. And into preservation, there are still a good number of their plates to be seen.

Fordson and Ford had an extensive network of tractor dealers in Scotland which grew extensively in the 1930s when tractors were starting to be used in increasing numbers. By 1951 that network was extensive, with dealerships in all parts of the country. If you were looking to buy a Fordson in that year you would find dealers located in these places, and from these dealers:

The Harper Motor Co. Ltd, Holborn Junction, Aberdeen
A. Baird & Sons Ltd, High Street, Annan
Dalblair Motors Ltd, 44 Dalblair Road, Ayr
John Harper & Sons (Blairgowrie) Ltd, Perth Street, Blairgowrie
John McBain & Son Ltd, Chirnside, Duns
John Rutherford & Sons Ltd, Home Place, Coldstream
George McLean Ltd, Craig Street, Dundee
Macknight (Motors) Ltd, York Place, Dumfries
Alexanders of Edinburgh Ltd, 64 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh
Elgin Central Engineers Ltd, High Street, Elgin
J. Millar Ltd, Callendar Road Garage, Falkirk
A. T. Mungall Ltd, 167-9 Castle Street, Forfar
George & Jobling, 140-160 Bothwell Street, Glasgow
A. W. Taylor & Son, High Street, Invergordon
Chapman of Inverness Ltd, Eastgate, inverness
Harry K. Brown (Motors) Ltd, Raith Motor Works; Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy
The Dunlop Motor Co., Ltd, 3 Nelson Street, Kilmarnock
James Martin (Kirkintilloch) Ltd, Kelvin Valley Works, Kilsyth Road, Kirkintilloch
County Garage (Lanark) Ltd, Hyndford Road, Lanark
Paisley Motor Co. Ltd, 85 Causeyside, Paisley
Frew & Company Ltd, 14 Princes Street, Perth
Millar’s Garage (Stirling) Ltd, Union Street, Stirling
Thomas Fairgrieve & Sons Ltd, Cockholm Works, Stow
James McHarrie (Stranraer) Ltd, County Garage, Stranraer
Wm Dunnett & Co., 20 Trail Street, Thurso
Shearer Brothers Ltd, Maybank Works, Turriff
Mackay & Jardine Ltd, West Cross, Wishaw

Next time you are looking carefully at the tractors down the tractor lines at a rally, have a look out for their nameplates. There are a lot of local tractors at local shows.

The photographs of the Ford nameplates were taken at rallies throughout Scotland, 2014-16.

The art of stooking

Remember the long hours spent stooking the sheaves in the harvest field?

There was quite an art to stooking. You had to ensure that the stooks got the best of the late summer sunshine and could dry out easily and evenly. You had to get the sheaves standing the right way so that they would stand up against one another. You had to watch where you placed the band-knots so that in a wet season the sheaves would not be injured. You also had to make sure that if it was windy the stooks did not blow apart: re-stooking was always harder that stooking the first time.

But stooking was a key part of the harvest until combine harvesters were used. Stooking let the grain and straw dry out sufficiently before it was put into the stack in the stackyard for the winter and spring months. You wanted all your sheaves to be dried properly: a heated stack injured the grain and could go on fire (if hot enough).

Henry Stephens describes the process of stooking sheaves in 1908:
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924000228332#page/n215/mode/2up

The photographs show a demonstration of stooking at the Strathnairn Working Vintage Rally and Display, 2014.

A network of combine harvesters: Claas in Scotland in the 1950s and 1960s

Claas combines were already being sold in Britain in 1952 through J. Mann & Son Ltd, Saxham, Bury St Edmunds.

By 1958 these combines were being distributed by a number of agricultural implement and machine makers scattered throughout Scotland. The Scottish distributor was R. G. Garvie & Sons, Aberdeen, the well-known and leading threshing mill maker. In addition, there were county agents in six central localities to ensure a geographical reach of the eastern arable area. These were:

A. M. Russell Ltd, Sinton Works, Gorgie Road, Edinburgh
T. Cochran & Co. Ltd, Sword Street, Glasgow
Peter Small & Son Ltd, Kirriemuir Road, Forfar
Mark Goodson Ltd, High Street, Jedburgh
Wilkes Bros, Murthly, Perthshire
William Reid (Forres) Ltd, Forres.

By 1961 that network looked very different. It was rapidly expanded, providing greater local support for owners and for prospective customers; it also facilitated the spread of Claas machines throughout the country. There were 14 local agents, some of which had a number of branches. These were:

Anderson & Munro Ltd, High Street, Elgin
Thomas Cochran & Co. Ltd, Sword Street, Glasgow
Cumming & Dempster, Banchory
Robert Dykes, Burnside Works, Thornhill
Mark Goodson Ltd, High Street, Jedburgh
James Gordon (Engineers) Ltd, New Market Street, Castle Douglas
Grassick’s Tractors Ltd, Crieff Road, Perth (also Grassick’s Garage Ltd, Blairgowrie)
William Munro (Invergordon) Ltd, Royal Garage, Invergordon
A. M. Russell Ltd, Sinton Works, Gorgie Road, Edinburgh (also at Goatfield, Haddington)
Geo. Sellar & Son Ltd, 30 Great Northern Road, Aberdeen (also at Granary Street, Huntly, Victoria Road, Maud, and Station Road, Laurencekirk)
Peter Small Ltd, Kirriemuir Road, Forfar (also at Commerce Street, Brechin)
J. B. W. Smith Ltd, Bonnygate, Cupar
Wilks Bros, Murthly, Perthshire (also at Stanley).

By 1965 Class had opened a Scottish depot at 477 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh. By 1968 it had 17 local agents throughout the country who extended as far north as Kirkwall, and as far south as Castle Douglas. They included some new names as well as established ones. New names included Jas Mackintosh (Friockheim) Ltd, Friockheim, J. & G. Sutherland Ltd, Halkirk, Caithness and J. & W. Tait Ltd, Kirkwall.

Next time you see a Claas combine around the rally fields, consider the very effective local network that was established in the 1950s and 1960s to introduce and spread the use of these combines throughout Scotland.

The photographs of the early Claas combines were taken at the Fife Vintage Machinery Rally, June 2015, and B. A. Vintage Stores, May 2016.

Buying a combine harvester in 1952

If you were looking to buy a combine harvester in 1952 you would have had to look at machines made in other parts of Britain and Europe, with machines being imported through dealers.

You could choose between tractor drawn or self-propelled models, with the former being more common at this time. Tractor drawn ones could be powered from the pto or engine driven. Their cuts varied from 4ft to 9ft (quite a change from those of today!).

You could choose a machine from one of eight makers and suppliers:

Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., Totton, Southampton (‘Allis-Chalmers All-crop’)
Associated Manufacturers’ Co. (London) Ltd, Wembley, Middlesex
Bolinders Co. Ltd, London (‘Monktell’)
J. Mann & Son Ltd, Saxham, Bury St Edmunds (‘Claas’)
Marshall Sons & Co. Ltd’, Gainsborough, Lincs (‘Grain-Marshall’)
Massey-Harris Ltd, Manchester
Sale Tilney (Agricultural) Ltd, Wokingham
M. B. Wils & Co. Ltd, London (‘Wild harvest thresher’).

Among them was an established name in grain handling equipment and threshing machines: Marshall Sons & Co. Ltd, of Gainsborough. Its “Grain-Marshall”, model 602, was a tractor drawn, and engine driven machine with a 5ft 6in cut. Massey-Harris Ltd, Manchester, was the big name in combines. It was selling its self-propelled no, 726. J. Mann & Son Ltd was another major player, also with the largest cut, on its tractor drawn ‘Claas’; it came with the option of being either pto or engine driven. It incorporated a straw press, bagging platform or tank. It was also suitable for stationary or stook threshing.

These combines changed significantly, as were the suppliers in the following decades, though Claas and Massey Harris were to come to rule the Scottish harvest field.

The photographs include later combines from Claas, as seen at Fife Vintage Agricultural Machinery Rally, June 2015 and B. A. Vintage Stores, May 2016.

125 years of harvester development

Back in 1890 the farmers of Portsoy, Banffshire, could purchase locally made reapers from the MacDonald Brothers, Portsoy. The brothers had been making agricultural implements and machines from 1878; their early manufactures included harrows and turnip lifters.

By 1885 they had started to make back delivery reapers, a manufacture which they continued to make into the early twentieth century. They had a number of models. In 1890 one of them was the Princess, a one horse self-acting back delivery reaper. Another two from 1894 were the Portsoy self-acting back delivery reaper and the Simplex self-acting back delivery reaper. The brothers were among a number of reaper manufacturers in Scotland, others including the famous Kemp, Murray & Nicholson, Stirling, Alexander Jack & Son, Maybole, as well as Auchinachie & Simpson, Keith.

By 1889 Henry Stephens could note that “in all parts of the United Kingdom, and on almost all farms of any considerable size, the reaping machine has superseded the slower and older appliances for cutting down the corn crops.” It was to be only a few years later that binders would start to come into force, marking another revolution in the harvest field.

If, in 1890, the users of the MacDonald Brothers’ reapers could have looked into the future to see how the harvest was cut and harvested today they would have been astounded. For them, their reaper was an efficient harvesting implement. It took the hard work out of cutting the crop and laid it in a neat row to be made into sheaves. It transformed the harvest field.

If we look back at the reaper we find it difficult to understand how innovate it was in its day: it was one of the most important agricultural inventions of all time. But if you look closely at the combine you can see its ancestor, the reaper, incorporated into its design. It’s there!

The Princess reaper from 1890 was photographed at the Strathnairn Farmers Association Working Vintage Rally & Display, September 2013.
The New Holland combine was photographed at the Fife Vintage Agricultural Machinery Club rally and farming heritage show, June 2015.

If you are interested in reading more of Henry Stephen’s account of the harvest in 1889 see: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924000275838#page/n99/mode/2up

Indoor and outdoor threshing

Displays of threshing using portable threshing machines are a popular feature at a number of the rallies in Scotland.

However, the portable threshing machine was not found on all farms. Some had machines installed at the steading.

According to Stephens’ Book of the Farm in 1908 “the portable form of threshing-machines prevails in England. As a rule, there is no threshing machine of any kind in English farm-steadings. The threshing is done by travelling machines owned by companies or individuals, who may have several machines at work in different parts of the country at one time. This system is now pursued to a large extent in Scotland.”

“Several leading firms of implement-makers have given much attention to the manufacture of portable threshing machines, and now the farmer has ample choice of machines of the highest efficiency. These portable threshing machines are usually worked by steam-traction machines, which also draw them from one place to another. In some cases portable steam-engines are employed in working the machines, but then horses have to be used in taking the machine from farm to farm.”

The photographs of the indoor Crichton threshing mill were taken at the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, August 2014. The photographs of threshing with the portable Garvie mill were taken at the Deeside Vintage rally, August 2014.