ORGANIZATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE 357 



farmer should look upon an idle team in the barn in exactly the 

 same way he looks upon a hired-man asleep in the haymow. If the 

 high cost of horse labor were realized, horses would be worked 

 more. 



There are many ways of saving horse labor. The most evident 

 way is to keep the horse busy, and so reduce the cost per hour. By 

 planning the work ahead it is often possible to do the work with 

 fewer horses. The horse labor for Farm No. i is shown in Fig. i. 

 The farmer kept two extra horses at a cost of $262, when the only time 

 he needed them was in plowing for oats and corn. If he had fall- 

 plowed for oats, he would have secured a better crop of oats, could 

 have fitted his corn ground earlier and better with two less horses, 

 and have had considerable time to spare. 



One horse raises from 9 to 28 acres of crops in the different counties 

 studied. In all these regions the larger and better managed farms 

 doubtless raise more crops per horse. If a farm is diversified, good 

 sized, and well managed, a horse can raise almost twice the average 

 area of crops. On many well-managed farms there are 30 acres of 

 crops per work horse or mule, and occasionally 50 acres when the 

 crops include tilled crops, small grain, and hay in such combinations 

 as to make a full season's work. If the crops are mostly tilled crops, 

 the area per horse should rarely fall below 25 acres. 



114. THE PROBLEM OF THE FEEDER 1 

 BY HENRY PRENTISS ARMSBY 



Mechanically there is in some respects a very close likeness be- 

 tween the animal body and what are known as internal-combustion 

 motors, i.e., those engines in which power is developed by burning 

 liquid or gaseous fuel (gasoline, alcohol, producer gas, etc.) in the 

 cylinder of the engine itself. Such an engine requires two things for its 

 operation: (i) sufficient repair material to keep its working parts in 

 running order, and (2) a supply of fuel in proportion to the work to be 

 done. Just these same two things are what the animal requires 

 repair material and fuel. 



In one respect, however, the animal body differs from the artificial 

 machine it cannot be stopped and started again at will. As long as 

 the animal lives the vital machinery is in operation, although less 

 actively at some times than at others. The animal might be 



1 Adapted from Farmers' Bulletin 346, pp. 9-10. 



