

FARM EQUIPMENT 361 



229. What machinery to buy. Whether or not it will 

 pay to buy any particular machine depends primarily on 

 how much the capital is needed for other purposes, the 

 area on which the machine is to be used, and the possibility 

 of hiring the work done at the desired time. 



For instance, the depreciation on a corn binder amounts 

 to about $14 per year. Interest, insurance, and housing 

 will usually bring the cost to a fixed charge of $20 per year. 

 If there are only 20 acres of corn to cut, this will make a 

 cost of $1 per acre besides the time and labor. At this rate, 

 it is usually cheaper to cut the corn by hand or hire a 

 neighbor to cut it. The total charge for cutting, including 

 the horses and driver, is often $1 per acre. No one can 

 afford to buy a binder to cut corn at this rate. But farmers 

 often own machines when they do not have work enough 

 to keep them busy, and also have idle horses. For this 

 reason, they can often be hired at prices so low that one 

 cannot afford to own the machine. If a machine cannot be 

 hired, and if men cannot be secured to cut by hand, then 

 it will pay to own a corn binder if one must cut 20 acres 

 of corn. 



The majority of farmers have about the right amount 

 of machinery, but there are some in every community 

 who have too much machinery for their farms and, per- 

 haps, an equal number who have too little. There are 

 thousands of farmers who have $100 machines on their 

 farms that are used only two or three days in the year. A 

 $100 machine that is used only three days a year usually 

 costs about $7 per day. If one could not afford to hire a 

 machine at this price, he should not buy one. 



One should be very slow in buying new inventions. 

 When a new invention is put on the market, the deprecia- 

 tion must be expected to be very high. A machine has 



