At the margins of the knowable, sit tractors and Roman reapers.

When analyzing the statistics regarding what gets looked at on my blog, some of the more esoteric topics like the Roman Vallus and posts regarding obscure European farm tractors consistently get hits. Since there is so little written about these things, they easily come up first in searches for those topics. Wikipedia and blogs, despite there detractors and potential veracity issues, are often the only sources on the Internet for obscure topics like these. There are pages for Ursus, Lanz, Landini, Marshall and other obscure farm tractors. These comprise one of the few source of information on these tractors on or off the Internet. Especially with topics that may have a significant number of publications outside of the English language, pages like these offer a place to start.

Often a small, but devoted cognoscenti are the keepers of lore and knowledge surrounding topics like this. Wikipedia, blogs and other outlets allow for exchange of information to a wider world, by a knowledgeable intelligentsia that is passionate about what others might see as inane and pointless. These topics are the invaluable flotsam and jetsam of history that add depth, color and meaning to the larger story. For example, the Ursus tractor factory in Poland played a large role in the Solidarity movement of the 1970's and 1980's. It is very easy to find historical reference to the Solidarity movement and the role of the Ursus tractor factory, but much harder to find information regarding the unique tractors that were manufactured there.

Until the late 1950's, several manufacturer's in Europe, South America and other parts of the world, manufactured a simple, durable and easily maintained tractor utilizing a single cylinder engine called a "hot bulb engine". In addition to being simply made and easy to maintain, the low compression engines in these tractors could run on a versatile array of fuels such as vegetable oil and even their own used motor lubricant. Although not as powerful as high compression gasoline or diesel tractors, they filled a need at a time when countries were transitioning to petroleum based farm economies, yet still lacked the infrastructure of reliable fuel supply and tractor repair. Modern thikers are looking at the technology anew as a possible tool to aid the developing world. We should not discount blogs, wikis and websites as sometimes the most useful or only sources of information and knowledge on some of the more abstruse areas of human experience.

The Gallic vallus lacks a Wikipedia page. I continue to remind myself to get around to writing one so that there can be at least some basic information about this obscure but interesting topic on the Internet.