Big Loads. 273 



When our roads here are good, two ordinary horses can just 

 as well draw such loads as I have spoken of as less, the short 

 distance we have to go to the depot. But do not understand me 

 as advising the overloading of horses. I never do this. It is 

 entirely wrong, as well as bad business policy. But our farmers 

 about here are not in danger of doing this. As a rule, when they 

 go to .market they are not rigged to take as much as their horses 

 could readily draw. Some ten years ago I got to the mill in 

 Akron, twelve miles from here, rather late in the day, and on a 

 day when there was a great run. The result was a long wait for 

 me. I amused myself by keeping account of the number of 

 bushels of wheat each farmer had on. The average of fifty-four 

 loads was twenty-four bushels. Some of these men had come as 

 far as eighteen miles. Nearly all had good, strong teams that 

 could as well draw 3,000 pounds as less than 1,500. My two 

 wagons had on ninety-four bushels that day. Can you not see 

 that I was accomplishing nearly twice as much in a day as the aver- 

 age of them ? Even if one does not do very much teaming he 

 should arrange to make it pay. The regular teamsters here who 

 draw gravel and sand never think of drawing less than 4,000 

 pounds when roads are good and not too hilly. 



The wheat from these fifty-two loads was loaded into a car, 

 which was run into the mill each time, to be weighed and emptied. 

 It held only forty-four bushels. The miller told me it was rarely 

 filled by one load. Of course, they would have had it larger, if 

 farmers all drew such loads as I. They had to put some bags on 

 top from my loads. 



But now, when the roads are bad, or one has a long distance 

 to go, these big w r agons may want a little more power in front 

 than two horses of ordinary size. Then, what you want is my 

 three-horse pole for driving three horses abreast. I was rather 

 forced to study this up also, in order to make my work pay. An 

 ordinary two-horse team will draw with ease, under fair condi- 

 tions, 3,000 pounds of load. The wagon, sideboards and driver 

 will -weigh, say 1,000 pounds. The total load for the two horses 

 is, then, 4,000 pounds, or 2,000 each. If now, you can hitch 

 another horse with the other two, so he can draw as directly on 

 the load as they do, he can draw 2,000 pounds more load, as there 

 is no more wagon to draw. This makes the total load, exclusive of 

 dead weight, 5, ooo pounds. Three thousand pounds with two horses, 

 and 5,000 with three ; which pays best ? And this is just what I 

 have done. And further, this three-horse team can be handled 

 anywhere that a farmer needs to go, and just as readily. Why 

 n<?t use it when the circumstances are favorable, and make the 

 third horse bring you 33 per cent, more than either of 

 the others. But I said I was forced to study this up. This is 

 how it came about : . Before my farming became profitable, I took 

 a large job of drawing gravel from near my farm to town. It 



