John Scott (agricultural engineer)

John Scott (c.1846–1909) was a Scottish consulting agriculturist, agricultural engineer, and pioneer of motorised farming.[1][2] He is credited with the invention of the tractor power take-off.[3]

Early life

Scott was the son of a farmer in Hawick, Selkirkshire, and as a young man farmed himself.[1] He became Professor of Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, in 1880. He resigned his post to investigate ranching, in 1882.[4][5] In 1877 James Macdonald had reported on American beef-raising for The Scotsman, and the topic had aroused much interest.[6][7]

Journalism

With John Chalmers Morton, the founding editor of the Agricultural Gazette, Scott wrote The Soil of the Farm (1882), in the "Handbooks of the Farm" Series.[5][8] He then worked in agricultural journalism, first on the Farmer's Gazette (renamed in 1882), the long-running Dublin journal of W. S. and Edward Purdon.[5][9] He later moved to the Scottish Agricultural Gazette, which became The Farming World, and was owned by James MacDonald. It was directed towards dairy farmers, and was merged to form The Scottish Farmer.[5][10][11][12]

In 1886 Scott suffered sequestration in bankruptcy proceedings.[13] At the end of 1888 he resigned from The Scottish Farmer to edit Sheep and Wool;[14] its previous editor Charles Scott, his brother, joined the staff of the Melbourne Leader.[15][16] Sheep and Wool reflected the interests of the trade, had been founded in July 1888 by Charles, and ran to April 1890 in its original form; it was owned by Scott & Co.[17] In October 1888 Scott entered an agreement with Herbert Henry Cooper (died 1891) of Berkhamstead, one of the family of Richard Powell Cooper who inherited William Cooper & Nephews, the sheep dip business, in 1885.[18][19]

Motorised farming

In 1897 Scott took up development of a motor cultivator, showing one in 1899.[5] The Motor Cultivator Syndicate, of Duddingston, Edinburgh, showed a cultivator in 1900. The Scott Motor Cultivator Ltd. was listed at 12 North St. Andrew Street, Edinburgh in 1903–[20] 1905–6,[21] 1906–7.[22] Scott's Motor Cultivator was illustrated in a 1908 agricultural book.[23]

Scott in 1903 used a chain and sprocket drive to connect a tractor to other devices, an early example of versatility in this area.[24] In 1904 at Perth a demonstration was held of three practical farming tasks, with a Scott motor and an Ivel motor designed by Dan Albone.[25] In 1905 the Scientific American Supplement carried an article "The Scott Gasoline-Motor-Propelled Agricultural Tractor". Photographs showed a rotary cultivator with a seed drill attached, and the "motor tractor and plowing engine". Power was provided by a 24 hp four-cylinder Aster engine.[26]

Death

Scott died in Hammersmith, in October 1909, aged 63.[1][27]

Works
  • The Land Valuer (1879) and Rents and Purchases (1879): at the time his address was Gloucester Street, in London[28][29]
  • Textbooks Draining and Embanking, Irrigation and Water Supply, Farm Roads, Fences and Gates, Farm Buildings, Barn Implements and Machines (1884), Agricultural Surveying (1884), for Crosby Lockwood and Co.[30][31]
  • The Complete Text-Book of Farm Engineering (1885), omnibus volume[32]
  • Blackfaced Sheep: Their History, Distribution, and Improvement, with Methods of Management and Treatment of Their Principal Diseases (1888) with Charles Scott[33]

Patents

Notes
  1. "Obituary — Professor John Scott". Aberdeen Journal. 21 October 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 1 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. The Country Gentleman. Luther Tucker & Son. 1909.
  3. Michael Williams (1 January 1992). Tractors: How They Work and What They Do. Farming Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-85236-239-6.
  4. Roy Beavan Sayce (1992). The History of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester: An Independent College. Alan Sutton. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-7509-0178-9.
  5. "Men Worth Knowing. 8th June 1905, Page 23, Commercial Motor Archive". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  6. Jenni Calder (2010). Frontier Scots. Luath Press Ltd. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-906307-99-8.
  7. Argentine Meat and the British Market: Chapters in the History of the Argentine Meat Industry. Stanford University Press. 1983. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8047-0989-7.
  8. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). "Morton, John (1781-1864)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  9. John S. North (1989). The Waterloo directory of Scottish newspapers and periodicals, 1800-1900. Vol. 2. North Waterloo Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-921075-02-8.
  10. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) at p. 3
  11. Joan Thirsk; Edward John T. Collins (1967). The Agrarian History of England and Wales. Cambridge University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-521-32926-2.
  12. John S. North (1989). The Waterloo directory of Scottish newspapers and periodicals, 1800-1900. Vol. 2. North Waterloo Academic Press. p. 1133. ISBN 978-0-921075-02-8.
  13. "Issue 9665" (PDF). The London Gazette. 5 January 1886. p. 18. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  14. Bulloch, John; Henderson, John Alexander (1935). Scottish Notes and Queries. D. Wyllie and son.
  15. Live Stock Journal. Vinton. 1889. p. 67.
  16. John Bulloch; John Alexander Henderson (1935). Scottish Notes and Queries. D. Wyllie and Son. p. 105.
  17. John S. North (1989). The Waterloo directory of Scottish newspapers and periodicals, 1800-1900. Vol. 2. North Waterloo Academic Press. p. 1222. ISBN 978-0-921075-02-8.
  18. "Deed of agreement, Reference: B/CHA/103 a Description: 1. John Scott, Edinburgh, newspaper proprietor 2. Herbert Henry Cooper, Berkhamstead. Interest in newspapers "Sheep and Wool", The National Archives". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  19. "Wellcome Library, Authority Entry: Cooper McDougall & Robertson Limited; 1843–1990". Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  20. "Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory, 1903-1904". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  21. "Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory, 1905-1906". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  22. Macdonald's Scottish directory and gazetteer. National Library of Scotland. W. MacDonald & Co. Ltd.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. Bruce, Isabella M. (1908). A century of Aberdeenshire agriculture: a souvenir of the Garioch farmer club centenary. Cornell University Library. Aberdeen, Printed at the Aberdeen daily journal office.
  24. The Tractor Book. Dorling Kindersley Limited. 1 May 2015. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-0-241-23800-4.
  25. "Motor Ploughing and Reaping". Bedfordshire Mercury. 30 September 1904. p. 8. Retrieved 1 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. "Scientific American Supplement, HathiTrust Digital Library". Vol. 60, no. 1557. 4 November 1905. pp. 24949–50. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  27. London Standard, 23 October 1909, Page 7
  28. "Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland". 1845.
  29. "Rents and purchases; or, the valuation of landed property, woods, minerals, buildings, &c". 1879.
  30. "Barn implements and machines: A practical treatise". 1884.
  31. John Scott (1884). Agricultural Surveying: A Practical Treatise on Land Surveying, Levelling, and Setting-out. Crosby Lockwood and Company.
  32. John Scott (1885). The complete text-book of farm engineering: comprising practical treatises on draining and embanking ; irrigation and water supply ; farm roads, fences, and gates ; farm buildings ; barn implements and machines ; and agricultural surveying. Crosby Lockwood and Son.
  33. John Scott; Charles Scott (1888). Blackfaced Sheep: Their History, Distribution, and Improvement, with Methods of Management and Treatment of Their Principal Diseases. T. C. Jack.
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