WORKING THE SOIL 147 



One horsepower equals a pull of 33,000 pounds, 

 moved one foot per minute. Two-mile speed equals 

 two times 5,280 or 10,560 feet per hour, or 176 feet per 

 minute. Sixty-six thousand divided by 176 equals 375 

 foot pounds pull per minute. One horsepower is ab- 

 sorbed in 88 feet of furrow. 



Horse labor costs, according to Government figures, 

 121/2 cents per hour per horse. On this basis ten hours' 

 work will be $1.25, which is the average daily cost of 

 each horse. An average Illinois diversified farm of 160 

 acres would be approximately as follows : Fifty acres 

 of corn, 30 acres of oats and wheat, 20 acres of hay, 60 

 acres of rough land, pasture, orchard, building and 

 feed lots. 



This average farm supports six work horses or mules 

 and one colt. According to figures taken from farm 

 work reports submitted by many different corn belt 

 farmers, the amount of horse-work necessary to do this 

 cropping would figure out as follows: 



Fifty acres of corn land for plowing, disking, har- 

 rowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting would 

 amount to a total of 1,450 horsepower hours. Thirty 

 acres of wheat would require a total of 330 horsepower 

 hours. Twenty acres of hay would require 110 horse- 

 power hours. In round figures, 1,900 horsepower hours 

 at 121/2 cents would amount to $237.50. 



Elaborate figures have been worked out theoretically 

 to show that this work can be done by an 8-16 farm 

 tractor in 27% days at a cost for kerosene fuel and 

 lubricating oil of $1.89 per day. Adding interest, re- 

 pairs and depreciation, brings this figure up to about 

 $4.00 per day, or a total of $111.00 for the job. No ac- 

 count is kept of man power in caring for either the 

 horses or the tractor. The actual man labor on the job, 



