December, 1931 1 Dairy Farming in Grafton County 



29 



Pords, Biiicks, Chevrolets and Oaklands leading, in order of numbers. 

 Over half of the 184 trucks were Fords, and nearly one-fourth Chevro- 

 lets. Forty-nine out of sixty-one tractors were Fordsons. 



Table 22 — Makes of automobiles, trucks and tractors 



{41i farms) 



" This number was used j^artly or wholly for farm purposes. Eleven more 

 cars were kept entirely for personal use. 



The average cost per mile of operating all automobiles for both farm 

 and pleasure purposes was 5.94 cents per mile (Table 23). The aver- 

 age distance traveled was 3,950 miles per car during the year. In spite 

 of the fact that there were many second-hand cars in use which con- 

 tributed somewhat to a low inventory value, nearly 45 per cent of this 

 cost was for depreciation. The cost of gasoline and oil represented the 

 next highest item with 26.4 per cent of the total. Repairs are doubt- 

 less somewhat low at $20 per car due to the fact that considerable la- 

 bor was expended in repairing these machines, or in the replacement 

 of parts, by persons on the farm. No estimate of the labor value thus 

 contributed was obtained. 



The fact that 137 of the trucks were light weight Fords and Chev- 

 rolets, coupled with more miles per machine, largely accounts for their 

 lower cost of operation per mile in comparison to the automobiles. The 

 truck bodies were most often of the small "pick-up" type with limited 

 capacity. 



Tractors were found on 59 farms. The total average cost of main- 

 tenance and operation was $139 per tractor. This does not include the 

 additional costs for extra tractor equipment which is necessary if 

 tractors are to be used efficiently for much farm work. Gilbert found 

 in New York that an average of $573 was invested per farm for special 



