318 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



lowest where young horses were used for a few years and sold before 

 they had depreciated much in value. Due to this practice, on these 

 particular Ohio farms the horses on the average increased in value dur- 

 ing the year instead of depreciating. "Where a horse is kept on the 

 same farm during its useful life, 8 to 10 per ct. depreciation should be 

 figured per annum, on the basis that it will begin work as a 3-year-old 

 and continue at work to the age of 13 to 15 years. 



The average cost of horse labor per hour was 9.56 cents for the Illi- 

 nois, 13.90 cents for the Ohio, and 14.22 cents for the New York farms. 

 The gross cost of keeping farm horses under present conditions may be 

 slightly higher than shown in these surveys. However, any such in- 

 crease will be fully offset by the fact that the credit given for the 

 manure produced per horse is entirely too low for present-day con- 

 ditions, even taking into consideration the fact that some of the excre- 

 ment is voided by horses on the roads, and thus lost. This will be 

 noted on comparing the credits for manure in the previous table with 

 the data in Chapter XVII. (441) 



Johnson and Green of the Missouri Station 64 secured data over a per- 

 iod of 4 years, 1912 to 1915, from 36 different Missouri farms, including 

 records on 320 horses and mules. The total yearly cost of keep per 

 head was $91.22, not including any charge for depreciation in value of 

 the work animals. Of this, $65.65, or 72 per ct. of the total, was for 

 feed; $11.03 for labor; and $14.54, for miscellaneous expenses. 



On the average these horses and mules worked 1,152 hours a year, of 

 which 655 hours was at field work and 497 hours at miscellaneous labor. 

 They consumed on the average 2,262 Ibs. corn, 698 Ibs. oats, 3,586 Ibs. 

 hay, and in addition pasture worth $3.33, other roughage valued at $4.17, 

 and other concentrates costing $1.11 per head. The average total cost 

 per hour of horse labor on these farms was 7.9 cents. The feed cost was 

 considerably lower on the. farms where the horses were fed corn as the 

 chief grain than where oats were largely fed. 



The feed cost per hour of actual work performed was 5.0 cents on the 

 farms where mules were the chief work animals, 5.6 cents where geld- 

 ings were mainly used, and 6.0 cents where most of the work animals 

 were mares. Tho the cost of labor per hour is thus apparently higher 

 with mares, this does not mean that on many farms it is not profitable 

 to keep high-grade mares as work animals and raise foals from them. 



With the return of prices for feed substantially to pre-war levels, 

 the horse will continue to prove on most farms an efficient competitor 

 of the tractor in the economy with which he performs work. Just as 

 many farmers do not take into consideration all the factors which make 

 up the cost of horse labor, perhaps the majority do not fully appreciate 

 all the costs of tractor operation, including the heavy expenses for 

 interest on the investment, the rapid depreciation, and the large bills 

 for repairs. (458-60) 



84 Mo. Bui. 152. 



