COST AND UTILIZATION" OF POWER ON FARMS. 23 



were owned. On the average the smaller tractors were used 1.9 

 days while the larger outfits were used 0.9 day for this work. (See 

 Table 12.) 



On nearly every farm only a single binder was owned, as one was 

 usually sufficient for handling the acreage in small grain. On the 

 22 farms with 320 or more crop acres there was an average of 75 

 acres of wheat and 84 acres of oats. Either horses or tractor should 

 cut each of these crops with a single binder in not more than 5 days 

 (see Tables 12 and 22), and in favorable seasons at least this much 

 time is available. 



The principal reasons given by these men for using the tractor for 

 cutting grain were that it relieved the horses of hard work in hot 

 weather, and made it possible to get the work done in a shorter time 

 when the season was unfavorable. 



Loading hay. — On 59 of the 286 farms no hay was raised during 

 1920. On 37, or 16 per cent, of the remaining 227 farms, the tractors 

 were used for at least a part of the work of pulling the wagon and 

 hay loader. Twelve of the 37 men used their tractors not only for 

 loading the hay in the field but also for drawing the wagons to the 

 barn for unloading. The remaining 25 used their horses for part 

 of the work of loading and hauling hay. The most common practice 

 on these 25 farms was to use two or more wagons for haying. The 

 tractor was used in the field drawing a wagon and hay loader while the 

 horses drew the loaded wagons to the barn. 



The amount of hay grown on these farms was small, compared 

 with the amount of corn and small grain, the average acreage of both 

 hay and seed being only 25 acres (see Table 2). On most of the 

 farms only the second cutting of clover was thrashed for seed but 

 on a few the entire crop was thus used. On account of the small 

 acreage of hay a considerable number of these farmers did not own 

 hay loaders, but loaded their hay by hand. The tractors were never 

 used in connection with haying where this practice was followed, and 

 this accounts in part for the comparatively small number who used 

 their tractors for haying. In an investigation of the influence of the 

 tractor on the use of horses made in 7 corn-belt States in 1918 and 

 reported in Farmers' Bulletin 1093 it was found that " 12 per cent 

 of the operators interviewed used their machines for pulling the 

 wagon and loader." Labor shortage was responsible in part for the 

 use of the tractors at that time. On most of the farms the work.was 

 done with one man fewer than when horses were used. 



While the number of corn-belt tractor owners who use their tractors 

 in haying is evidently small, the results of both these investigations 

 indicate that under certain conditions tractors can be used advan- 

 tageously for this work. 



