366 FARM MANAGEMENT 



In one trial in New York, E. L. Baker found that it 

 took 5 hours and 37 minutes to plow an acre in a field 

 16 rods long, and took 6 hours and 23 minutes in a field 7 

 rods long. He found the time required to turn around 

 with two horses to average one-half minute before the 

 farmer could be ready to start again. 



For most kinds of general farming, fields ought to be 

 at least 40 rods long; 80 rods is very much better, and 

 160 is still better. 



The shape of fields is also very important. All irregular 

 shapes are objectionable. Square fields are not satis- 

 factory, unless they are very large. If large enough to be 

 cut in two for operations that require going around 

 the field, they are satisfactory. In harvesting and mowing, 

 a square field must be cut in two, or there will be many 

 very short rounds in finishing the field. Unless the fields 

 are very large, a field about a half longer than wide is a 

 very desirable shape. Many of the operations can be 

 done the long way of the field and so have long rounds. 

 Yet such a field, if of reasonable size, is wide enough so 

 that it may be harrowed or cultivated crosswise without 

 great loss of time. 



The time required to plow an acre in a triangular field 

 averaging 7 rods wide was found to be 6 hours and 51 

 minutes. The time for a rectangular field of this width 

 was 6 hours and 23 minutes. 



The cost of fencing is very heavy for small fields, and is 

 still worse for irregular fields. The cost of construction 

 and permanency of a fence depend largely on the corner 

 posts. Irregular fields have too many corners. On most 

 farms, all posts except the corners can be driven from a 

 wagon, so that it does not take very long. But properly 

 set and braced corners take time. 



