SUBSTITUTES FOR THE TRACTOR 229 



cables required the use of the cable system is necessarily re- 

 stricted to small fields. 



The cable outfits are used to a great extent in beet and cane- 

 sugar cultivation, being well adapted to extremely deep plow- 

 ing. Bulletin 170, United States Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 makes the following statement regarding their economy in 

 California : 



Plowing is done at a depth of 12 to 14 inches for sugar beets, and in heavy 

 adobe soil from ten to twenty acres are covered per day. Light cultivation 

 is done at a depth of 7 to 9 inches and deep tillage at from 14 to 16 inches, the 

 cultivators being 16 feet and 10 feet in width respectively. Cultivating is 

 done at a rate of twenty-five to thirty-five acres and harrowing at the rate of 

 fifty acres per day. A special implement, lifting six rows of beets at a depth 

 of 12 to 16 inches, is used in harvesting, and from fifteen to twenty-five acres 

 are covered in a day when necessary. No time is lost in taking supplies, as 

 the engines are stationary, and little time is wasted at the ends of the furrows, 

 one engine being ready to start pulling as soon as the other finishes. 



From five to eight men are used in plowing, including a foreman, two en- 

 gineers, one or two teamsters, two plowmen, and a cook. From six to eight 

 barrels of crude oil daily supply both engines. The expenses, not including 

 interest and depreciation, are about $30 a day, or from $2 to $3 an acre. In 

 comparing this with the cost of operating direct traction outfits, the great 

 difference in depth of plowing must be kept in mind. Interest and de- 

 preciation charges are heavy, though, the outfits are in use the greater 

 part of the year. The investment for each outfit, including freight and duty, 

 is from $25,000 to $30,000. The cables, which cost from $600 to $900 each, 

 last from six to eighteen months in continuous use, and bad water destroys flues 

 in from six to twelve months; otherwise the outfits are capable of long service. 



In view of the heavy initial and operating cost, the use of this equipment 

 is restricted to large enterprises. One ranch in California uses five sets of tackle 

 in handling 10,000 acres of sugar beets, using horses only in seeding and hauling. 

 Each outfit is said to displace 120 horses and the necessary drivers. Another 

 outfit, operating eleven months in the year, handles 1300 acres of beets. Others 

 are to be found in large vineyards, while a large number are used in sugar-cane 

 culture in Hawaii. While these outfits are not suitable for use on a small 

 scale, it would seem that a modification, embodying the numerous advantages, 

 and adapted to more general use, might be produced in the United States and 

 sold at a price within the reach of small operators. 



The double cost of these outfits, the excessive wear on the 

 expensive wire cables, the slow rate of work, and the lack of 

 adaptability to large fields have greatly restricted their 

 use. Internal-combustion outfits in imitation have never 

 been developed to a wide extent, though there have been some 

 recent developments along that line in Continental Europe. 



