MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2728, 24 March 1916, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

—.——.— IBr Clutch.i

The Motor of the Farm. That machinery is destined to play an increasingly important part in agri- . cultural operations is now recogniscd by farmers the world over, and that the motor has a great future ahead of it iu connection with these developments is equally to bo taken -for granted. Some very interesting observations on this subjcct were made by Mr. YV. J'. Maiden, in a paper read before the British Farmers' Club some weeks ago. At present, Mr. Maiden remarked, the -motor was in a comparatively crude form, but valuable even at that. Even the best type of engine was by no means agreed upon, and the most useful type had yet to bo determined. So far as the motor for use in the near , future was concerned it would require wheels suitably largo, - broad, and strong, gears big. and strong, great ease in turning, steering, and reversing, attachments suitable for the great variety of work it must be prepared to do, and engines with reserve power when new to cover the effects of wear. The adaptation of suitable implements and attachments had been almost neglected. The implement-maker and the enginemaker Imd not , yet worked together, and this had greatly hindered the earlier adoption of tho motor on the land. He did not see why a small engiuedriven mechanical spade should not ijo made to cut and turn a spit, and tie workable by' a man crippled by ilia war.' In motor harvesting there must be great developments, and he looked confidently to the time when a large portion of our crops would be cut and threshed in one operation. A combine:! harvester aiid thresher must be of a size suitable to the motor power on th'i farm. As an -alternative, if it could not be done by one, the harvester caist be a stripper, also designed to cut and tie the. straw, and the thresums > a done by a separate machine. Haymaking could be made practically, n:uchanical. A small motor to drive ibe , field loaders would be better than having the horses pulling a nearly-loaded wagon to do this extra work. After the war the motor would tend to the ]

breaking-up of immense tracts of latui, and undoubtedly corn-growing n the course of years would be done on' a very narrow profit. It was for fho British farmer to grow crops ivhicli would save him at that time. Such crops as potatoes and beet grown fi.r industrial purposes should take a placu in ,the British farmer's • programme. The Excise charges should be removed, so that, every' farmer might, by growing a small quantity of potatoes, provide himself with fuel to do the heavy Work of the farm: The potatoes wasting and rotting through disease this year could have been used, and would have provided fuel to supply the power to work a very large portion of tho land. Engineers should set themselves to develop engines suitable for running an alcohol, and surely tho Board of Agriculture would find a good field of research to aid both the engineer and the farmer bo that alcoholdriven farm motor might sooner be. available, for- use. ,

The Folilior Monoplane. -uic pacinian Ken imicii have brought tliu uuiiuau i'oKiier monoplane lira) notico are not reauily grusyeu oy tue layman irom tlie average expert uescri|juoii, but are very cieurly explained w tlie following siioichl'Ua j.'oliKur monoplane lias come as a surprise tu many wiio imagined mat too doubledecker was 'uesuiieu to dominate ine wiiole gamut of military designs. And what is this amazing hier which is alleged to have played ducks and drakes witli our machines 'i As far as 1 have been ablo to make out, there is little that ;s novel in its construction cxcoyt the smallness and Hatness of its planes and very powerful engine, by means of which it can be iluug recklessly about in mid-air in much tlie same way that a boy flings about a stone tiqd to the end of a pieco of. stiing. In'this' way the Fokker may have gained a temporary advantage, but not being a practical, type, it is doubtful if it can be sustained for any length of time on account of the super-oxpert handling it requires by men who 4 must. always bo in the pink of condition. It is a freak machine, in that its stability depends wholly on its great speed foi manoeuvring, henco the' wilil rushes and plunges which is the only factor of safety m such a craft. I do not think there is any, secret in it . beyond what the designer has lgarned from a moro daifiig use of the flattened—and lnaybo hinged—wing and increased propeller thrust, which, if carried to extremes, would.convey half.a dozen liien perched on the tail of a scaffold-pole. This clipping of stability was tried soine years ago by 31. Louis Bleriot.in his desire to beat the speed, of the Nieuport monoplane in the Gordon-Bennett racu at Eastchurch. Hamol managed to Ret the monoplane up all right, but tilemuch' faster pace of the craft was not fast enough for the angle when turning, and as a consequence it pitchnd • earthwards, the impact nearly breaking Ham el's neck.' It is good for the Allies that there are fow Immelmanns and Bolches in tho Gorman air service, and with such a' fearsomo thing to drive, barring a miracle, one could almost count the dayß of their exploits on—or above —the:earth.

Eleotricity and Aoetyleno.

At the close of ail eventful season, at any rate as regards cicatrical equipment, it is well to consider tlie respective advantages and disadvantages of the two .nain systems of lighting before purchasing a. car for IMB. At first sight (says an English motoring writer) id would appear that the electric Mit-' ing system, from the .vapid way" in »nicii it ha'« gained ground during the past season, threatens completely to . oust_ gas lighting. But a little mature will convince one that . this is-impossible. As can only be expected, the full electrical equipment o) a car co3ts about twice as much as a pair of acetylene headlamps, two side, and one tail oil lamp. At an initial and final outlay of such immunity from worry is. cheap. This, of course, is' o.ue of the big points in- favour of the eleefcrio system, V m"' "P' iee P i s nil- To be able to put one's finger oil a switch and immediately _ light up of extinguish one s lamps is a very fascinating power which every owner of an electricallyequipped car possesses, Another consideration is the ease with which an electric starter can be fitted. But all these luxuries and conveniences mean expenso, and it; is very doubtful if, to the man who rides for pleasure onlv and rigorously avoids bci.ug out in darkness, the littlo time he is privileged to enjoy these conveniences is worth their cost. It must also not be imagined that while electrical systems liavo been so improved and perfected, the old methoos of gas lighting remain, when, after putting tlie generator into action, • ono had to wait anything from five to thirty minutes for a supply of "gas. Generators are different, almost instantaneous, now. In addition, there is j that undoubted Loon, the dissolved i acetylene cylinder. With such a storo or gas 110 trouble is experienced in ob j taming a light at a second's notice, i/ven then it' might bo argued against ho acetylene system that one has to light tip by opening the lambs and applying matches to the burner. But such accessories as Automatic lighters are by 110 means unknown, and at ieast ouo device has been patented whereby tlieso canjje actuated from the seat, and, in conjunction with a dissolved aectvleno c.yjinder, a complete light-up caii bo obtained ill almost as simple a manner as .witfT an electrical equipment. If such a litnieut were more generally

' known and used, it would undoubtedly add years to the gas lighting system. Here and There. Lighting up time for motor-ears and motor-cyclos:—To-day, 6.3 p.m. Next Friday, 5.52 p.m. Mile-posts are to he erected 1 from , Feat hers ton to the top of the Rimutaka II ill by the Wairarapa Automobile Association. The distance is seven miles from Fenthorston post office to the first bend round tho Summit. In adjusting a side-car it is very necessary to see that the wheel 1 is perfectly aligned with .those of tho cyclo. Neglect of this precaution entails undue wear on the back tires. Tile Railway Department lias decided to improve the level crossing adjoining the Bank of New Zealand, Featlierston. \\ arnjnjj boards have been erected and' negotiations are in progress for the purchase of part of the bank section, lhose being completed, an iron fenco will be removed and trees and shrubs cut down so as to open tho viow .of tiie crossing from the Russia has imported a very large number of motor-trucks 'from America to be used 111 military transport. An American export has been engaged 'to assist in 'organising the service. Motorists who are anxious to 6ave running- expenses should bear in mind thai, the rate at which the car or motorcycle is driven is one of the important determining factors. The most economical speed' both as regards. petrol consumption and .tires is-about twenty miles an hour. Above this tlio figure rises, especially as regards tires. Tho increase is slow at'first, but after 25 miles an hour becomes, much more iapid. Heat is especially injurious to the tires, and the economical motorist should occasionally test them by hand, it he finds that they are unduly hot ho may take it as a warning that he 'has been driving too fast to suit his pocket. A complaint by the .Wairarapa Automobile Association about tho continued rise in the price of petrol has been referred. by tho Prime Minister to the Hoard of Trade for inquiry. Jin effort is to bo made by an American motor cyclist- to cover ]000 miles in J.UTO consecutive minutes. The attempt, is to be made on the New York speedway at Slicepshead, which is claimed to ho tlie fastest motor racing track in the world. -E. Baker, in his reccnt 24 hours' | road race in Australia, covered 1027 t miles in 1292 minutes. '

Over 20,000 niotor-cyclcs are said to be in use hy the Allies, more than half the total by the British array.