COST AND UTILIZATION OF POWER ON FARMS. 



55 



drawbar work on the home farm constituted 80 per cent of the total 

 work done by the 2-plow machines, 71 per cent of that done by the 

 3-plow machines, and 76 per cent of that done by all tractors. Con- 

 sequently the figures represent approximately these percentages of 

 the total cost of operating the tractors. 



Table 43. — Total annual cost of tractors for drawbar work on home farm. 



[Averages.] 





2-plow tractors. 



3-plow tractors. 



All tractors. 



Operation. 



Days 

 work 

 per 



year. 



Cost 

 per 

 day. 



Cost 

 per 

 year. 



Days 

 work 

 per 



year. 



Cost 

 per 

 day. 



Cost 

 per 



year. 



Days 

 work 

 per 

 year. 



Cost 

 per 



day. 



Cost 

 per 

 year. 





7.9 

 5.1 

 4.0 

 3.4 

 1.1 

 .4 

 1.9 

 2.0 



$12. 78 

 12.86 

 13.35 

 12.55 

 11.97 

 10.02 

 11.60 



1 12. 50 



$100. 96 

 65.59 

 53.40 

 42.67 

 13.17 

 4.01 

 22.04 

 25.00 



6.3 

 5.2 

 2.3 

 4.0 

 .2 

 .4 

 .9 

 .9 



$18. 07 

 18.69 

 17.13 

 16.82 

 19.14 

 14.18 

 16.45 



i 18. 00 



$113. 84 

 97.19 

 39.40 

 67.28 

 3.83 

 5.67 

 14.81 

 16.20 



7.3 

 5.1 

 3.4 

 3.5 

 .7 

 .4 

 1.5 

 1.6 



$14.85 

 15.23 

 14.59 

 14.29 

 12.04 

 11.57 

 12.61 



1 14. 50 



$108. 40 



Fall plowing 



77.67 





49.61 



Disking in combination 



50.02 

 8.43 





4.63 



Drawing grain binder 



18.92 

 23.20 







Total 



25.8 





$326. 84 



20.2 





$358. 22 



23.5 





$340. 88 







i Approximate. 



Size of Farm 



(Crop Acres) 



Less than 80. 



80 - 1 1 9 



120- 159 



160- 199 



200 - 239 



240 - 279..... 



280 -3i 9 



320 and over.. 



All 



Dollars 



500 L00JJ 1500 





2000 2500 



Horses-.. 

 Tractors... 



Fig. 14.— Cost of power for drawbar work on farms of different sizes (1920). 



The cost of the power for drawbar work furnished by the average 

 tractor was equal to the cost of keeping 2.1 head of workstock. The 

 cost of keeping horses has declined considerably more .than the cost 

 of operating tractors since the investigation was made (see page 54) 

 and based on present prices (Sept., 1921) the cost of the power fur- 

 nished by the tractors would be equal to the cost of keeping 3.3 head 

 of workstock. 



The cost of keeping the workstock on the average farm during the 

 year of the investigation was $1,076. Thus the total cost of power, 

 both horse and tractor, for drawbar work was $1,417. Seventy-six 

 per cent of this total was chargeable to the workstock and 24 per 

 cent to the tractor. 



The cost of power, both horse and tractor, for drawbar work on 

 farms of different sizes is shown in Table 44, and in figure 14. 



