In 1928, George Gershwin wrote a symphonic poem for orchestra he called “An American in Paris,” upon which was based a 1951 film starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. The following story is about two earlier Americans in Paris, or more accurately, in Bourges, France, about one hundred fifty miles south of Paris.
In early October, 1912, the annual agrimotor exhibition of the Automobile Club du Centre de France was held at Bourges, and part of the exhibition was a plowing competition that had initially received seventeen entries, although only twelve showed up. The list of entries had an international flavor, with Fosters of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England, long famous for their steam plowing engines, entering one of their newly designed petrol tractors, although it later withdrew. The rest of the entries were French, except for two from the United States.
The two U.S. entries included an International Harvester 25 HP, as well as a Case 30 HP steam traction engine, the only steam rig in the contest. The IHC machine was said to be quite familiar to French farmers, having been entered in several previous competitions, with several in actual use on French farms. The IHC machine was described as a single cylinder model with a horizontal cylinder of 10 inch by 15 inch bore and stroke. Although the article in The Commercial Motor doesn’t say so, I’d guess the machine was a Mogul Type C.
In France, “The International Harvester Company” was known as C.I.M.A., which stood for “Cie Internationale des Machines Agricole,” making deciphering the results a little confusing to American eyes, or at least to mine.
On the first day of the two-day competition, one of the smaller French two-plow machines broke a vital eccentric wheel after going only a short distance and had to be withdrawn. Another small French machine with a single front drive and steering wheel kept going “…but did not do more than scratch the surface.” The C.I.M.A. (IHC) machine pulled five bottoms on the level and downgrade, but only three uphill. It was said to have had some early engine trouble but then did very good work. The Case steamer was on the most hilly section of the field and pulled eight bottoms downhill and six up, and “…was the most business-like on the field.”
The second day a different field was used, “…the soil of which was quite heavy and had been rendered greasy by the night’s downpour of rain.” It was also a distance from the first field and could only be reached by first crossing six hundred yards of low, wet ground. The two smaller machines, the Lefebvre crawler, and the Bajac with large, wide treaded drive wheels crossed the soft ground and got right to work. Another of the big French tractors didn’t even try to cross the muddy field and withdrew from the contest.
Bets were being taken that the heavy Case wouldn’t make it either, but it was stopped and fitted with diagonal paddles on the rear wheels and a projecting rim on each front, after which it crossed the field with no difficulty and was soon busy plowing. Work was supposed to begin at nine o’clock, but the International 25 H.P. tractor was so slow on the road that it didn’t arrive on the field until ten-thirty.
So, six machines were at work, each with three acres to plow. To quote the account in The Commercial Motor, “The Case did the most satisfactory work; with six ploughs down it had finished its plot in the afternoon, although having started late. The C.I.M.A. (IH 25-H.P.) worked with three ploughs and also gave very satisfactory service. Among the French machines the Bajac and the Lefebvre caterpillar type gave the best service.”
The final test required contestants to maintain an average depth of twelve inches on a piece of hilly ground that was stony in places. Only four machines tackled this challenge, among which was the International, the big Bajac cable plough, the Lefebvre crawler, and the Filtz small cable plow. The Filtz was too under-powered, the International and the Lefebvre had difficulty with their plows, and only the Bajac’s three-bottom plow consistently reached the required twelve-inch depth.
The results of the two day affair are interesting: The Case 30 H.P. steam engine was actually the cheapest to operate, having plowed 8.4 acres at an estimated cost of 2 shillings, 8 pence per acre. The thriftiest internal combustion tractor was the Lefebvre crawler with 6.2 acres plowed at a cost of 4 shillings, 6 pence per acre. Next in line was the International, also with 6.2 acres completed at 5 shillings, 11 ½ pence.
Awards were based upon the amount of ground plowed, ease of operation, regularity of the work, and cost per acre. A gold medal was awarded to both of the American entries, along with four of the French. Silver medals went the other French entries, so every participant got a gold or silver medal to brag about in its future advertising literature.