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WHAT IS AN ADVISOR?
What is an Advisor? This was a confusing term to me. How do I get my ideas across to someone with out appearing to be superior, or patronizing? My classification and job description contained statements like this: "He must not become easily discouraged,---must work patiently and tenaciously toward bringing about the practical adoption of ideas. He must have imagination, initiative and be a "self starter."
If I were to propose what I thought had to be done, it would mean a completely different approach to irrigation, in Turkey. I didn't want to appear as the smart American that had all the answers, but after spending 3 weeks in the country, I was certain that the direction they were now taking in preparing land for irrigation, was headed for disaster.
My observation during the time we had been drinking tea and coffee and riding around the country, had taken me back 40 years. It appeared to me that Turkey was trying to modernize its agricultural practices by using equipment that wasn't designed to fit the small farms in the area. I saw many tractors that were sitting idle for lack of some part that was worn out or broken. There were disc-plows that were 16 feet long, that were used on wheat farms of 400 or 500 acres in Kansas and Texas. How could they ever be used in an area where the average-sized farm was 10 to 20 hectars [sic].(20 to 50 acres)?
Turkey had received money to purchase tractors, much of it from America. A lot of modern equipment was in Turkey, but very little attempt had been made to repair and service any of it, so much of it was sitting around and not being used. I would ask questions as to why it was not being used, and the answer usually was; "It is broken and there are no parts available."
After a little questioning as to what the policy had been in buying these tractors, I found that they wanted to try as many as possible in order to know which ones were best for Turkey. It was total chaos, no tractor company felt the need to set up service departments. I found over 50 makes and models, and most of them could not even use the same tires, let along any other parts.
An example of poor planning can be illustrated with one example, a 60 horsepower tractor with earth-moving equipment used hydraulic lifts, and when the operator unhooked the tractor from the carryall, he forgot to disconnect the hydraulic hose. When he pulled away it tore the hose apart.
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Rights
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Metzger Memories
