300 . AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



should like to beat it into the heads of those farmers that do not 

 already know the fact, that no small part of the price they pay for 

 some of their agricultural machinery is due to the necessity, on the 

 part of manufacturers, to satisfy whims. It seems to me that our 

 agricultural schools can do much to develop level-headed farmers, 

 men whose choice, say of a wagon, will be the result of good judgment 

 rather than the fact that he believes his father's type of wagon was 

 best. A manufacturer cannot sell the same kind of wagon in Colorado 

 that is demanded in the eastern states, although the conditions are 

 practically the same. In the few good agricultural portions of the 

 eastern states the western farm wagon finds no sale. This has been 

 proven to the satisfaction of the makers who have fallen down in their 

 efforts to produce a type of wagon that will serve a purpose the 

 country over, wherever conditions are uniform. They have failed 

 because brain conditions are not uniform. This is a matter of catering 

 to the likes and dislikes of the buyer rather than supplying demands 

 directed by his judgment. 



D. Depreciation of Stock and Equipment 



93. DEPRECIATION OF FARM MACHINERY' * 

 BY F. W. PECK 



The annual depreciation in farm machinery is usually estimated 

 at 10 per cent. The statistics gathered on these farms for the years 

 1902 to 1907 showed that the average depreciation of all machines 

 was approximately 7.3 per cent. The farm records on practically 

 the same farms for the years 1908 to 1912 indicate a slightly lower 

 figure as the average depreciation on all machines. For the latter 

 period approximately 6.7 per cent is the .figure arrived at from the 

 records as shown in Table XT. This is to be accounted for by the 

 fact that these farmers have taken better care of their machinery. 

 It has also been found that many of the machines that were purchased 

 in 1902, 1903, and 1904 are in such good condition as to bring the rate 

 nearer 6 per cent than 10. The longer such records are kept the more 

 clearly is it. shown that as machines grow older the rate of depreciation 

 becomes less. For instance, a grain binder may seemingly depreciate 



1 Adapted from Bulletin 145, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 pp. 24-25. 



