Physical Problems in Soil Cultivation1

Abstract

UP to the outbreak of the war the farmer could generally rely upon an adequate supply of cheap labour. He had no great necessity to introduce labour-saving machinery into the routine of the farm. But the increasing demands of the Army for men and tlie menace of the submarine campaign brought him face to face with the difficult problem of growing more food with a greatly reduced staff. In such conditions the employment of machinery was the only solution, and although at the time it was introduced mainly as a temporary measure, it is now quite evident that economic conditions will cause it to be retained permanently. During the war the rate of progress in the industry of agriculture was necessarily forced above the normal, and the urgent need at the present time is to take stock of the position, so that future developments may be guided along the right lines. In this connection the report of the Departmental Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture on Agricultural Machinery appears at an opportune moment. The report deals with “the further steps which should be taken to promote the development of agricultural machinery,” and, so far as tillage implements are concerned, falls naturally into two sections, dealing with (1) fundamental research on the physical properties of soil as affected by cultivation operations, and (2) the application of the knowledge thus gained to the design of new implements and the improvement of old ones.