Scottish ploughs for early tractors

If you were a farmer at the end of the Fist World War you may have had an interest in tractors that were starting to be used on Scottish farms, or had used one of them. The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland was also interested in the tractors and tillage implements, running a series of trials from 1915 into the early 1920s.

The Society’s trial held between 17 and 20 October 1922 was provided an important forum for the exhibition of tractors – including the Glasgow tractor – and implements, especially ploughs, made by Scottish and other makers.

The Scottish ploughs were made by some of the leading plough makers of the day, showing their recognition that tractor ploughs were the way forward for the Scottish agriculturist. The ploughs included ones from Robert Begg & Son, Implement Words, Dalry, had a double-furrow self-lift tractor plough which was described as “strongly constructed”. The committee described it as “a well-constructed, easily adjustable plough, readily adapted for either stubble or lea, and suited for all classes of soil. It did good work both on stubble and lea, and the plots ploughed by it were considered to be amongst the best on the ground.”

Morton Engineering Company, Ladylands, Corstorphine, Edinburgh, had a new combined utility implement for general purpose tractor work which embraces a 2-furrow adjustable plough and subsoiler, 9- or 11- tine cultivator, 9-tine stubble scarifier, 5- or 7- tine grubber. The committee described this new plough, convertible into a grubber or cultivator” as being “well designed, simple in construction, and readily adjustable. It did very good work on stubble and excellent work on lea, where its performance reached a very high standard. The Committee are of opinion that a combined implement of this description is a creditable production, and one likely to commend itself to farmers”.

A. Newlands & Sons Ltd, St Magdalene Engineering Works, Linlithgow, demonstrated a self-lift 7-tine grubber, constructed on the same principles as the old Scotch parallel frame grubber, but made specially strong for work with a tractor, as well as two self-lift cultivators, one with 9 tines, the other with 11 tines, and a self-lift brake harrow to work in conjunction with a cultivator.

G. Sellar & Son, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, demonstrated its Sellar B.D.F. type, 2/3-furrow self-lift tractor plough which had a main frame of simple construction combined with strength; it was made of best quality Bessemer steel. It also had a self-lift tractor grubber. The Committee described the 3-furrow, convertible to 2-furrow plough as a “good plough”. It was “easily and quickly adjustable to varying widths and depths. Its work did not reach the highest standard at the demonstration, the principle objection noted being that it did not sufficiently bury the surface vegetation.” The grubber was described as “a well-made powerful 5-tine self-lift grubber, wich broke an unploughed stubble to a depth of 7″ or 8″, and did its work in a first-rate manner”.

A number of Scottish implement and machine makers demonstrated implements from other makers, usually from companies outside Scotland. For example, Henry Alexander & Company, Nottingham Place, Edinburgh, a Fordson dealer, had an Oliver no. 7 2 furrow 10″ to 12″ adjustable plough. Henderson Brothers, 29 Barnton Street, Stirling, had a Massey-Harris 2 furrow adjustable plough, a Massey-Harris 9-tine self-lift cultivator, a Massey-Harris tandem disc harrow and a Massey-Harris spring-tooth harrow. Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole, had a Dux- self-lift tractor plough with subsoiling attachment. Wallace (Glasgow) Limited, 34 Paton Street, Glasgow, had an Oliver no 78 3-furrow self-lift tractor plough, 10″ wide.

The Committee considered that there had been a significant advance in ploughs since the earlier trials of the Society. It reported that “much good work was performed. All ploughs are now fitted with a self-lift attachment. Many of them are also provided with and efficient means of adjustment to different widths and depths. In view of the varying conditions of soil in Scotland and the variety of work to be undertaken, a plough that is not adjustable must be regarded as being unsuitable. There is still room for improvement, but in the case and rapidity with which adjustment may be effected. In this connection it may be noted that a tractor plough, taking 2 or 3 furrows, requires more adjustment than a horse plough.”

Next time you are at a ploughing match and you see trailing ploughs, think about the early days of the tractor ploughs and the important work of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in promoting them to the Scottish agriculturist.

The photographs of trailing ploughs and ploughing with them were taken at the Scottish Ploughing Championships, October 2016.

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Who were the great Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers in 1898?

If you were a farmer or agriculturist in Scotland in 1898 you could have purchased your implements and machines from a number of eminent machine makers in Scotland, England, and further afield.

In Scotland, a number of makers had national and international standing. They included:

J. D. Allan & Sons, Culthill Implement Works, Dunked. According to the Scottish farmer, the company “enjoy an excellent reputation for the superior quality of their agricultural implements”. They included potato diggers, carts, and hoes.

14310567_521027084757263_884537105482526337_oJ. Bisset & Sons Ltd, Bisset. Blairgowrie, was “one of the best known firms of agricultural engineers in all of Great Britain”. It was the only Scottish firm to make its own binder, which had the reputation of being “one of the best machines offered for general harvesting work”. The Scottish Farmer could comment “it is unnecessary at this time to say that the material and workmanship put forth by the Blairgowrie form takes rank as amongst the best in the country.”

15271760_552277324965572_8659586409324789615_oP. & R. Fleming, Graham Square, Glasgow, had been established for nearly 100 years. The company was “pushing their agricultural side with great energy,a nd achieving much success throughout the country”. Apart from its own manufactures, it was an agent for Walter A. Wood (binders), Barford & Perkins (hay tenders), Ransomes (hay ricks and cultivators).

John Gray, Stranraer, had a world-wide reputation for its dairy utensils. Mr Gray was said to be the first in the country to “devote special attention to the requirements of modern scientific dairying”. The company made and sold everything from the dairy including cheese vats, curd racks, mills, knives, chests, these presses, churns and butter workers.

15235438_552213934971911_9088356289540308035_oThomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole, had a “long-established reputation” and for many years had occupied “a foremost place amongst the agricultural firms of Great Britain”. It was celebrated for the “Hunter” hoe as well as its potato ridging plough, the “Dunlop” triple drill plough and “Braehead” patent manure distributor.

14424754_522899451236693_6800756242947754330_oJack & Sons, Maybole, had “acquired a world-wide reputation for special manufactures in agricultural engineering”. It was renowned for its potato diggers and other manufactures including reapers and mowers, horse rakes, hay rick-lifters, turnip sowers, grain and grass seed sowers, and food coolers. Its chain-delivery manure distributor was claimed to be”the best and most reliable of its kind in the market”.

Kemp & Nicholson, Stirling, was “well-known” specialising in horse-rakes, mowers, hay collectors, hay rick-liftes and carts as well as “implements of various descriptions”.

A. & J. Main & Co. Ltd, Glasgow and Edinburgh, was a significant maker and dealer of implements and machines and galvanised iron roofing, iron fencing and wire netting. It was agent for the new “Deering” binder which had received a large number of awards throughout the world.

15252527_552273038299334_9006937223244011338_oA. Newlands & Son, Linlithgow, was a renowned maker of ploughs, having “had hardly a rival in this country”. Apart from ploughs, it also made horse rakes, drill grubbers, diamond harrows, hay collectors and cultivators.

15288691_555798204613484_3193006747447089857_oAndrew Pollock, Mauchline, specialised in a range of harvesting implements and machines, including combined reapers and mowers, hay collectors, and rick lifters. It was an agent for Nicholson’s rakes and everything for the harvest field.

Ben Reid & Co., Bon Accord Works, Aberdeen, was especially renowned for its threshing machines which were made for the largest formats the smallest croft. It also made its “Bon Accord” back delivery reapers and mowers and artificial manure distributors “for which the firm have a reputation hiccup is world-wide”.

John Scoular, Stirling, was a renowned maker of horse hoes, rakes, cultivators, harrows, sheep racks, rollers and food coolers.

George Sellar & Sons, Huntly was “the famous makers of ploughs for all purposes, steel grubbers, harrows, broadcasts, and turnip sowers”. It manufactures had a “superior excellence”. The company had “been established so very long” that its name was “a household word”.

15259262_552272641632707_8474862637901641175_oThomas Sherriff & Co., West Barns, Dunbar, was another old-established firm, specialising in corn drills, bean drills, turnip and mangold drills, and broadcast machines. They also made a folding sheep fodder rack which was widely used in east Lothian.

William Sinton, Jedburgh, was a famous manufacturer of churns of all kinds including end-over-end, round barrel andoval-barrel ones.

15326287_555798491280122_7956472860267425826_oJohn Wallace & Sons Ltd, Glasgow, the “well-known” firm which sold “a large and varied collection of machines and implements”, sold machines of Scottish, British and American manufacture. It had its own celebrated mowers and reapers, as well as selling “Massey-Harris” self-binders. It also made and sold horse rakes, hay collectors, hay tenders, rick lifters, and horse forks.

Robert Wallace & Son, Whitletts, Ayr, was described by the Scottish farmer as “amongst the most ingenious modern agricultural engineers”. Its manufactures included a combined drill and broadcast manure distributor, double drill ploughs and carrot sowers.

When you are round a rally field next season, have a look to see if there are any implements and machines by noted makers who already had significant reputations by the late nineteenth century. There are still a few of there manufactures to be seen!

The photographs of name plates were taken at rallies around Scotland.

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Its December so its time for Smithfield

The major agricultural shows dominated the agricultural calendar. If you were a Scottish farmer, the peak of the show year was the Highland Show or the Royal Highland Show. For the Scottish implement and machine makers, it was one of the highlights, if not the highlight of the year. It was the place to launch new implements and machines (and enter one for the prestigious “New Implement” award), and to sell manufactures to the Scottish and other farmers and agriculturists. For some of the most important Scottish makers the Royal Show, or the “Royal”, usually held in June, was another important event in their calendars. So too, was the Smithfield, held in the middle of December.

15325245_555798287946809_7751024940679180107_oThe Smithfield was one of the most important shows for the English implement and machine makers to launch new manufactures. For the most important Scottish makers, the Smithfield was a chance for them to bring their manufactures to the attention of the English makers where all the “big” names were in attendance, as well as the English farmers and agriculturists. It was also an important forum for them to extend their reputations and their markets.

15288691_555798204613484_3193006747447089857_oThe number of Scottish implement and machine makers that attended Smithfield was, however, small. Their attendance reveals a great deal about who were the key players in the Scottish implement and machinery industry, their aspirations and the manufactures that they wanted to promote to the English agriculturist. Their numbers varied from year to year according to whether they had new manufactures and other factors. In 1903 there were six Scottish exhibitors; there were 14 in 1914.

Some of the Scottish makers were regular attenders. they included: Andrew Pollock (later A. & W. Pollock), Machine, J. D. Allan & Sons, Murthly, Thomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole, Alex Jack & Sons, Maybole, Ben Reid & Co, Aberdeen, and John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Glasgow. It is interesting to note how many of them are from Ayrshire.

15272130_555798281280143_6182377761004425210_oBecause of the limited amount of space at Smithfield, and the expense of taking implements, the Scottish makers exhibited key implements and machines. They also reflected their key manufactures and new productions, as well as improvements to them. They were also ambitious in what they took, as well s the stands that they hired: in 1903 the Scottish farmer reports “Andrew Pollock, Implement Works, Mauchline, Ayrshire, deserves credit and energy and pluck that promoted him to take stand 50, where his wares were on show”.

15326287_555798491280122_7956472860267425826_oIn 1903 J. & R. Wallace exhibited several of their manure distributors. Andrew Pollock’s manufactures included a cart with hay loader. J. D. Allan exhibited their thistle and bracken cutters. Thomas Hunter had a scarifier, drills, food coolers, hoes and many other implements. Alex Jack had potato-diggers, and manure distributors. ben Reid & co., had manure distributors, cultivators, pumps and other implements. John Wallace & Son Ltd, had “their usual exhibits” which included mowers and reapers, ploughs, potato-difggers and harrows.

15272004_555798294613475_6649236612906584374_oAll of these implements and machines were intimately associated with these makers. By 1903 they were associated with them. For example, the implements of Alex Jack & Sons were “well known: while John Wallace & Son was “already famed for their agricultural implements”.

We no longer have the Smithfield Show. But if you ask members of the agricultural community and implement makers what they associate December with, they might hjust say “Smithfield” and start reminiscing about the show and going to London.

The photographs of nameplates,, seats eetc were taken at various rallies and events in Scotland in 2014 and 2015.

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Buying a plough in 1899

If you were a farmer or agriculturist looking to buy a new plough in 1899 you would have had a wide selection to draw from. Throughout Scotland, and especially in the eastern agricultural districts there were small makers associated with particular districts, with their ploughs being adapted for particular soil types and types of work. There were also larger makers some of which were located in the market towns, as well as the towns and cities. The prominent makers included A. Newlands & Son, Linlithgow, George Gray, Uddingston, George Sellar & Son, Huntly, Ben Reid & Co., Aberdeen.

15235670_555328824660422_1566200330814823315_oIn addition to ploughs being made by prominent makers in Scotland, a number of the leading agricultural implement and machine makers were agent for other makers. P. & R. Fleming & Co., Glasgow, was agent for Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies Ltd, Ipswich, as was W. H. Kirkwood, Lothian Bridge, Dalkeith. Milne & MacDonald, Lockerbie, was agents for the Cockshutt Plough Co., North America, as was also Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole. John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Glasgow, was agent for a wide range of Oliver ploughs.

While ploughs were used for a wide range of purposes, including ordinary ploughing, deep ploughing, and the making of drills, farmers could purchase a range of ploughs for their ordinary work. A. Newlands & Son sold a two horse swing plough for £1 15s as well as a prize swing plough with steel mould board also for £5 15s. George Gray had a range of models of its prize swing plough. Wheel ploughs, more usually associated with English agriculture, were also available with P. & R. Fleming selling a Ransomes’ plough with double wheels for £4 10s or one with a single wheel for £4 5s.

15289144_555328907993747_6909416300897514874_oChill ploughs had gained popularity and were being sold by a number of the implement and machine makers. Wm Storie & Son, Newton St Boswells, sold Ransomes chilled ploughs with wheels and skim coulters (for £4 5s each). Newlands made its own child steel plough with wheel for £4 2s 6d. Probably the most famous of all of the chilled ploughs were those made by Oliver and sold by John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Glasgow. Wallace sold a wide range of these ploughs including Oliver’s long handled chilled plow, Oliver’s lea chilled plow, Oliver’s combination chilled low, Oliver’s chilled plow, Oliver’s large chilled low, with jointer and Oliver’s one horse chilled plow. Other notable chilled ploughs were also imported from Canada: the “Dux” plough made by Cockshutt Plough Co. The most noted importer of the “Dux” ploughs was Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole, which widely advertised its agency of them in the Scottish agricultural press. Among its range of “Dux” ploughs was “The Dux 96”, selling at £4 2s 6d, the “Dux 96” with double wheels, “The senior Dux”, and “The senior Dux” with skim coulter. Also available were Anglo-American ploughs such as the Anglo American chilled iron plough with two wheels, skim and tail presser sold by Thomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole or the Anglo American plough no 1 sold by George Sellar & Son, Huntly.

Turn wrest ploughs were also available with P. & R. Fleming selling one from Ransomes for £4 12s 6d. Wallace had an Oliver’s turn wrest plow for £4 5s. Double furrow ploughs were also available.

15304285_555328961327075_1934938229371843450_oThere were also improved features associated with ploughs: we have noted the availability of steel mouldboards; there were steel shares, skim coulters and tail pressers, cutting wheels, and improved coulter fastenings. Reversible points were also available. George Gray, Uddingston, sold a patent “red star” plough with reversible points for £4 2s 6d and a patent “red star” plough with reversible points and two wheels, for £4 10s.

If you were looking to purchase a plough in 1899 you could could choose from ones from a range of makers (most of whom were widely known and renowned by that time) and with a range of designs and features, with important influences from North America.

The photographs show horse ploughing with a Ransomes wheel plough at the Easter Ross ploughing match, October 2015.

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An Ayrshire name: Thomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole

A number of the Ayrshire implement and machine makers rose to prominence in Ayrshire, across Scotland and throughout the world for their manufactures. One of them was Thomas Hunter & Sons, Maybole.

15196079_552214001638571_2516270847826353931_oThomas Hunter, a smith, in Maybole, announced his implements in the North British Agriculturist on 8 May 186. By 1883 his business had expanded so that he worked out of the Implement Works, Maybole. He was joined by his sons by 1895, renaming his business from Thomas Hunter to Thomas Hunter & Sons. That name was to continue until April 1914 when the company reorganised and became a company limited by guarantee: Thos. Hunter & Sons (Maybole) Ltd.

15259369_552216178305020_6560191286240672421_oThomas Hunter was an eminent agricultural engineer. In 1893 the North British Agriculturist provided a cameo of him. It states: “Mr Thomas Hunter, of Maybole, has long been one of the best known and most frequent exhibitors of all the leading agricultural shows, not only in Scotland, but also in England and Ireland. Since the death of the late Mr John Kemp, of Messrs Kemp & Nicholson, Stirling, Mr Hunter may be said to be the “father of the Scottish agricultural implement trade”. He was born in Maybole, and bred to the implement trade, which he learned with his father. At the age of sixteen years he set up a business on his own account in Liverpool, and exhibited on two occasions in the Haymarket, Liverpool, at the shows of the “Manchester and Liverpool”, which is now known as the Royal Liverpool, Manchester, and North Lancashire Agricultural Society. As showing the immense progress made by that Society, it may be mentioned that in these early days there were only about half a dozen exhibitors in the implement section at the show. On the death of his father, Mr Hunter returned to Maybole. Mr Hunter has been a regular exhibitor at the Highland Society’s shows for the last forty years, and for a good few of the first of these years his implement exhibits had all to be conveyed by carrier to Glasgow. The 15235438_552213934971911_9088356289540308035_oprincipal implements made by Mr Hunter are swing and chilled ploughs, the “triple drill” plough, which opens three drills at a time, and is largely used in the early potato districts; the “Hunter hoe and scarifier”, a most useful appliance in root and potato culture; the Hunter turnip raiser, another most useful implement for lifting the turnip crop, diagonal harrows, drag harrows, rollers, turnip slicers, sheep racks, &c. As showing the appreciation which Mr Hunter’s appliance shave met with at the hands of agriculturists, we may mention that he has been awarded more than 250 gold and silver medals and money prizes at the leading agricultural shows. No better testimonial as to the high quality and great usefulness of the appliances designed and manufactured by him could be desired than that furnished by the unique record which he can show of gold medals and other prizes awarded to his exhibits by the implement judges at the principal agricultural shows. Mr Hunter has an excellent business manner which peculiarly fits him for the work of an implement exhibitor, and in social life he is most genial and well-informed gentleman, whose society is always profitable and agreeable.” The company’s implements included a wide range of cultivating implements. In 1867 they included drill grubbers, horse hoes, drill harrows (for medium or heavy land), land rollers, zig zag harrows (for medium of heavy land), chain harrows (for medium or light land) and a plough with potato raiser. By 1867 the company was also making implements from other makers and patents. They included Tennant’s grubber, one of the most renowned implements of that time, and Dickson’s new patent double patent double drill turnip cleaner, another one.

15252525_552216508304987_1855282098035050707_oThe company was also an early agent for a number of the renowned English (and also Scottish) makers. In 1871 they included Mellard & Co., Rugelet,and in 1875 W. N. Nicholson & Son, Newark on Trent (for hay makers), R. Tinkler, Penrith (noted churn maker) and G. W. Murray, Banff. By 1899 it was agent for other companies such as John Richardson, Carlisle, Plano Manufacturing Co., London, and J. & F. Howard, Bedford.

As noted by the North British Agriculturist, the company had numerous awards. Those from the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, the national agricultural society, were especially important. They included a silver medal for two patent turnip thinners in 1873, a minor silver medal for its collection in 1875, and a first and second prize (with G. W. Murray & Co., Banff) for a turnip lifter in 1881. The company also entered a number of implements and machines for the Society’s trials, including its trial of seed cleaners (in 1882), a trial of turnip thinners (in 1883), a self-acting double-drill revolving turnip-thinner (in 1886), a trial of manure distributors (in 1894) and a trial of turnip lifters (in 1895).

The company passed a resolution to wind up on 30 May 1921. By 1924 the North British Agriculturist was advertising Hunter’s hoes, but the company was referred to as “Alexr Jack & Sons Ltd, Maybole, proprietors of Thomas Hunter & Sons (Maybole) Ltd. It continued to advertise in the North British Agriculturist until at last May 1934.

Some Hunter hoes bear both the Hunter name and a Jack name. The Hunter hoe secured Hunter’s legacy. A few Hunter hoes can still be seen around the rally fields. When you see one, think about the great legacy of the Hunter name in Scotland and around the world.

The photographs of the Hunter hoe were taken at the Scottish National Tractor Show, Lanark, September 2014.

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Dressing tatties the old-fashioned way

The machines for dressing tatties have come along way since the mid nineteenth century.

Tattie riddles and sorters were developed to be used in various circumstances. They needed to be used for dressing the first earlies in the field, and so had to be portable and easily moved. They were also required to be used alongside the tattie pits to dress the main crops over the winter months. As a greater tonnage had to be dressed with them they were larger, but had still to be capable of moved along the pit. When boxing became fashionable, static graders could be employed, with the tatties being brought to the dresser rather than vice versa in earlier days. They had to be able to sort the potatoes into various sizes and sort the sound potatoes from the unsound ones.

15002467_543258275867477_2684529559020748091_oPotato dressing machines had been simple affairs. In 1875 P & R Fleming, Glasgow, sold a potato-riddler, invented by Sawney, for £3 10s.

By 1900 a range of riddles and machines were available. Matthew Dunlop, Glasgow, sold Dunlop’s galvanised potato screen at the cost of £1 5s. P. & R. Fleming & Co., Glasgow, had a galvanised potato riddler at a cost of £1 7s 6d. There were also potato sorting machines. John Scoular & Co., Stirling, had a new patent potato dressing riddle for £6 10s while A. & J. Main & Co Limited, Edinburgh, had a patent potato sorter for £7 10s. Penney & Co Limited, engineers, Lincoln, had a potato separator and riddle which divides the potatoes into three sizes at one operation for £9.

A number of companies that manufactured potato diggers also started to make potato sorters. Noted makers included Pollock of Mauchline, Ayrshire, (making a range of potato equipment in the 1870s), David Wilson, East Linton, East Lothian, and John Munro, Kirkcaldy, Fife. In 1914, David Wilson made and sold potato cleaning and sizing machines as well as potato washing machines and potato sporting boxes, a recent development. Wilson had won an equal premium (with 3 other machines) at the all-important Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland trials of potato digger or lifters in 1911.

14976825_543258395867465_958965128013641171_oIn 1939 potato sorters were made and sold by a number of manufacturers in Scotland. J. L. & J. Ballach, Edinburgh, made the Ballach’s potato sorter, new improved, with angle-iron frame and steel spared elevator. Thomas Sherriff & Co., West Barns, East Lothian, had a power driven potato dressing machine. Especially popular were the sorters of John Monro, Kirkcaldy, and Cooch & Son, Commercial Street, Northampton. Cooch’s machines were sold in Scotland from at least 1914, by dealers such as Kemp & Nicholson, Stirling. In 1939 Cooch exhibited six potato sorters at the Highland Show in Edinburgh, ranging from £7 10s to £60 for the potato sorter no 6A, with patent roller conveyor, feeding elevator, and petrol engine.

Cooch’s machines remained popular in Scotland as did those of Munro. By 1948 Kenneth Mckenzie & Sons, Evanton, Ross-shire, was to become associated with one of John Munro’s potato sorters, the “Eclipse potato sorter no 3”, which was the “outcome of forty-years’ experience in the manufacture of potato sorters.” It is worth describing the machine, as it was entered for a New Implement award at the Highland Show in that year:
“This machine … delivers both seed and ware onto the conveyor, which is wider than on the earlier models, and which has a division up the centre thereby delivering seed size at one side and ware size at the other, where both can be hand-picked before being discharged into bags, four of which can be fitted at the delivery end.
The machine uses the flat riddle principle with a circular movement, resembling hand-riddling. The potatoes do not suffer damage, and are better dressed and cleared than by other methods.
Although designed for power drive to handle large quantities of potatoes, the machine can be operated by hand in an emergency.
The machine and 1hp air cooled power unit with clutch are mounted on four large-sized wheels for travelling. These are fitted with very strong endless conveyor chains with octagon revolving slats so constructed that they revolve, thereby continuously turning the potatoes over and over, enabling defective tubers to be removed.”

14940003_543258115867493_2490003619895979447_oThe experience of working at the tattie dressing changed greatly over the years. Hand riddles represented an important step forward in dressing, as were the early sorters. Electricity and other forms of power made a huge impact in the work. Today’s dresser she’d is a far cry from dressing by the pit in the 1870s!

Source: The tattie dressers and sorters were photographed at the Fife Vintage Agricultural Machinery Rally, June 2016.

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Harvesting neeps by machine 

We all remember the hard work of shawing the turnips or neeps by hand.  It was a cold wet and tiring job. Numb hands and a sharp knife could also make it a dangerous job. And the job could go on for day after day.

In the 1890s the Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers, especially those in the areas where large acreages of neeps were grown, looked at how they could try to remove the drudgery from this work. Some were well-known makers of implements; others were local blacksmiths.  They had the challenge of making an implement that could loosen the neeps from the drills in which they grew, tail them, and also top them.  And neeps didn’t grow evenly in the drill.  Nor did they grow to the same size.

14991029_543241652535806_5293679700385665097_oOn 13 November 1895 the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland held a trial of turnip lifters at the Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries.  Seven machines were entered for this important trial.  All were entered by Scottish makers: William Duncan, smith, Deskford, Cullen, John Fairweather, Chapelton, Brechin, Moir & Dargie, Foundry, Brechin, Thomas Hunter & Sons, Implement Works, Maybole, John MacDonald, smith, Aberlour, Macdonald Brothers, Portsoy, and John Wallace & Sons, Graham Square, Glasgow.  Most were known locally within their area: William Duncan and John MacDonald were local smiths.

The trial was undertaken under unfavourable conditions, the weather being poor.  The attendance of farmers and other interested parties was thin.  But it was a good trial.  All the machines “worked satisfactorily”, with the topping ‘in nearly every case was well done …. the tailing was also fairly well done, but none of the machines made as clean work as hand-tailing”.  The turnips were “left standing in rows as they were grown”.

14991245_543241629202475_664643811849394365_oThe first prize of £10 went to the turnip lifter made by Macdonald Brothers of Portsoy.  It could also be used for scarifying turnips.  The second prize of £5 was awarded to a machine from John MacDonald.  It was called the “Ferret turnip lifter”: it was drawn by one horse, and moved on slides without wheels.

The “Ferret” in particular became well known.  The well-known and renowned Glasgow implement makers and agents P. & R. Fleming of Graham Square (also known as “P. R”), acted as agents for the “Ferret” in the south of Scotland into the turn of the twentieth century, also extensively advertising it in the Scottish agricultural press.  For a local smith like MacDonald this was a great achievement and a great boon to his business.

Source: “Trial of turnip lifters, Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1895, pp. 372-4.

The photographs of the Ferret turnip harvester were taken at the Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore.

© 2016 Heather Holmes

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Buying a threshing mill in south-west Scotland in 1895

15129508_547454132114558_7571388426006828107_oIf you were a farmer in Dumfries-shire and were looking to purchase a new threshing mill in 1895 you may have decided that you wanted to view them at the Highland Show which was held in the town of Dumfries in that year.

At the show there were 21 makers of threshing mills with a range of mills on display. A number of the exhibitors were local makers.  They included Andrew Boyd, Noblehill, Dumfries, Thomas Turnbull, Castlebank, Dumfries, and Charlton & Wylie, Dumfries. Further 15110904_547454098781228_335846965674465525_oafield, from Ayrshire, were George McCartney & Co., engineers, millwrights and iron founders, Old Cunnock and John Young Jun, Mid Lowes, New Cumnock.  Other Scottish makers included R. G. Morton, Errol Works, Errol, Perthshire, and from Aberdeen the well-known Robert G. Garvie, Hardgate Iron Works, and Ben Reid & Co., Bon Accord Works. Shearer Brothers, Maybank Works, Turriff, had a foot and hand thresher. 

15039644_547454718781166_1142822328220802370_oAll of the other makers were English, and included some of the most prominent threshing mill makers: Penney & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, Charles Burrell & Sons, Ltd, Thetford, R. Hornsby & Sons Ltd, Grantham, Ruston, Proctor & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Robey & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Marshall, Sons & Co. Ltd, Gainsborough, E. Foden & Co. Ltd. Sandwich, and William Foster & Co. Ltd, Lincoln. Only one English maker, Weyman & Hitcock Ltd, Cheltenham, exhibited a machine from a Scottish maker, that of Shearer Brothers, Turriff.

15129006_547454545447850_4226184068982911828_oThe makers exhibited a wide range of machines, from hand and foot threshers to 4 feet 4 inch thrashing and finishing machines.  Among them Thomas Turnbull had an iron frame thrashing mill, with riddle and fanners, with all the most recent improvements, adapted for steam or water power, which sold for £38, and a wood frame threshing mill with riddle and small blowers and horse gear with all the most recent improvements, for £22 10s. Ransoms, Sims & Jefferies exhibited a 54 inch thrashing 15122903_547454525447852_3083880832366680142_omachine, with steel-beater drum, self-acting drum guard, self-cleaning corn screen for £150, and a 60 inch finishing thrashing machine for £160. Robby & Co. Ltd, had a threshing and finishing machine, mounted and improved, wrought iron frame, ajustable corn screen, barley owner, drum guard for prevention of accidents, self-adjuster arranged for finishing the corn for market, fitted with patent adjustable shakers, for £150.

15128924_547454612114510_3640562498311793880_oOne of the makers, William Foster & Co. Ltd, has a machine especially to suit the Scottish farmer.  This was a 4 feet 6 inch finishing thrashing machine, specially made for “Scotch requirements”.  It cost £150.

The Dumfries farmer had a wide range of threshing machines to choose from, from local makers to the largest English makers of world renown.

The threshing machines from some of these makers are from a selection of rallies in Scotland in 2016 (B. A. Stores, Deeside and Daviot).

© 2016 Heather Holmes

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Draining

In 1889 Henry Stephens noted that “the part which drainage plays in agriculture can hardly be overestimated. Drainage, natural or artificial, is essential alike for pastoral and arable farming. Upon ill-drained land good farming of any sort is an impossibility.”

14976697_543221705871134_4194518872576129070_oWinter was an important time for draining land on the farm.  Drain tiles were made by a number of tile manufacturers throughout Scotland, being a by-product of brick and tile works. Some noted brick and tile works were well-known and even renowned.  In the mid 1840s they included Robert Boyle, tile manufacturer, Ayr.  He exhibited at the Highland Show of 1844 a model of the improved Tweedale patent tile making machine.  By 1848 Alexander Cairns, Denny, Stirling, and George D. Dodds, Airdrie, were both exhibiting their own machines at the Highland Show.  Their numbers were to significantly increase in following years as the drainage revolution gathered apace on Scottish farms.

By this time a number of implement and machine makers were making draining tools.  Amongst the most important was William Cadell and Sons and Co., Cramond Iron Works.  Associated technologies also developed, such as the need for ploughs to assist in the draining work.  In 1848 George Ponton, Grougfoot was making a plough for filling in drains.

A century later the face of drainage on Scottish farms and on marginal land had changed dramatically.  If Scotland had led the way in the drainage revolution with James Smith of Deanston, it continued that innovation into the 1950s.  While there were a number of implement and machine makers in England that provided drainge implements and machines, including mole drainers, cultivators and trenchers, one Scottish maker came to have a great reputation: James A. Cuthbertson Ltd, Station Road, Biggar, Lanarkshire.

By 1952 James A. Cuthbertson Ltd manufactured a range of drainage tackle including a tractor drawn trench cutter suitable for tiles, pipes or cable laying, a trench cutter, Type F, suitable for plantation work, a Type S, double sided mouldboard tough , suitable for moorland draining and afforestation and sugar cultivation, the Type R, double sided ridging plough, designed for sisal grass plantations and ground preparation for cotton, groundnuts, and a hydraulically operated grab for use with the “Atlas” loader for ditch cleaning.

The company won a number of important awards for its drainage machinery including a silver medal from the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society for its drainage plough in 1948, another for its deep drainage plough with tile-laying attachment in 1950.  The company was also noted for its land improvement machinery including its bracken cutter which won a silver medal in 1949.  It entered other machines for the new implement award of the RHASS In 1948, including the grassland rejuvenator and lime spreader, its double-purpose double furrow forestry planting plough in 1949 and its lime-spreading outfit in 1951. It also developed the “Cuthbertson” half-track for Fordson Major conversion.  For his innovative work James A. Cuthbertson won an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list in 18953.

The company was eager to demonstrate its machinery.  James undertook a series of talks on farming and the agricultural engineer on marginal land in 1949.  The company widely demonstrated its machinery.  In June 1951 it advertised in the Courtier and Advertiser that it “will shortly have a hill drainage machine in the Milnathort/Dollar district.  Ground is inspected and quotations given free.”  In that month, another was on the ground in the Duns district of Berwickshire.

Scotland played an important role in the drainage revolution of the mid nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  However, you won’t see many aspects of that revolution at the rallies around Scotland.

For a comprehensive account of draining in 1889 see Henry Stephens, The Book of the Farm https://archive.org/stream/cu31924000275838#page/n295/mode/2up

© 2016 Heather Holmes

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Cutting turnips the economical way

Preparing food for livestock was, and still is, an important job over the winter months.  Hay had to be cut from stacks, or silage taken from clamps. Turnips were to be sliced or pulped, though livestock could also be put onto fields to eat the crop straight off it.  Broke tatties were taken from the dresser and sometimes cut up as well.

15000145_543236085869696_64207772766006173_oThe cutting, slicing and pulping of turnips were important jobs, especially for young livestock that did not have fully formed teeth.  In Scotland turnip cutters or slicers were especially favoured.  Some designs were used for many decades: the lever turnip cutters or lever ball turnip cutters of the 1860s were still found on farms after the Second World War.  They comprised a cast iron frame with bars through which a turnip was forced and sliced when a lever with a weight came down on top of the turnip.

By the mid 1870s the most important implement and machine makers in Scotland were making their own turnip slicers.  They included Robert Peddie & Co., Tynecastle Iron Works, Edinburgh, 15000192_543236529202985_1935161933643233363_oAndrew Pollock, Mauchline, Ben Reid & Co., Bon Accord Works, Aberdeen, John Wallace & Sons, Graham Square, Glasgow, Wingate & Lowe, Alloa, G. W Murray & Co., Banff Foundry, Banff, P. & R. Fleming & Co., 29 Argyle Street, Glasgow, Alexander Jack & Sons, Maybole, Kemp, Murray & Nicholson, Stirling, and A. & J. Main & Co., Scott Street, Port Dundas, Glasgow.

Most of their slicers were inexpensive.  In 1875 Alexander Jack & Sons sold lever turnip slicers for £2 2s.  Some models, such as one sold by P. & R. Fleming, sold for as much as £4.  Their designs varied so that they cut up the turnips into different sizes, and for either cattle or sheep.  There were also “improved” models, such as those sold by Ben Reid & Co.  By the mid 1870s some of the English makers were also designing, making and selling more complex 14918960_543236345869670_1688414648293667695_omachines.  They were ones that came to be renowned for their food preparing machines not only in England, but were also widely used by Scottish farmers: Harrison, McGregor & Co., Albion Foundry, Leigh, Manchester, Samuelston & Co., Britannia Works, Banbury, Picksley, Sims & Company Limited, Bedford Foundry, Leigh, Lancashire and Richard Hornsby & Sons, Spittlegate Iron Works, Grantham.  Their machines included double action turnip cutters as well as treble action turnip cutters.  But there was one design that was especially important: that of Gardener’s turnip cutter or Gardener’s patent turnip cutter.  It was already well used and renowned in the 1840s.

15003180_543236325869672_7662761780017155755_oBy the 1870s makers, such as Picksley, Sims & Company Ltd, were manufacturing turnip cutters in the “style” of Gardener’s turnip cutter.  Even by the outbreak of the First World War that machine was still being made and sold.  For example, A. & J. Main & Co. Ltd,
Edinburgh, was selling “Gardner’s sheep patent turnip cutter” for £5 10s.  The use of new forms on motive power on farms helped to improve designs and make the tasks of cutting, slicing and pulping turnips easier to undertake.  In 1914, John Wallace & Sons Ltd, Glasgow, was selling Mackenzie’s patent portable turnip cutter, with motor (an Amanco engine), for the sum of £31 10s.  Kenneth MacKenzie of Evanton, Ross-shire, was to become well-known for his turnip cutters and potato sorters.  Even at that time, the majority of machines continued to be manually worked ones, and were on wheels.

Their character was to change significantly.  By the outbreak of the Second World War most of the turnip slicers that were exhibited at the Royal Highland Show were fitted with engines.  Most of the 14991087_543236299203008_3414326272680935584_oturnip slicers at the Show in 1939 were fitted with engines: those by Harrison, McGregor & Co. Ltd, James H. Steele, Edinburgh, Barclay, Ross & Hutchison Ltd, Aberdeen, Bamfords Ltd, Uttoxeter, E. H. Bentall & Co. Ltd, Gillies & Henderson, Edinburgh, George Henderson Ltd, Edinburgh and Kelso, and William Elder & Sons Ltd, Berwick on Tweed. Later, they were powered by electricity.

The photographs were taken at the New Deer Show, 2014, and at Daviot vintage rally, October 2016.

© 2016 Heather Holmes

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