4 BULLETIN 627, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



where hilly or soft ground is encountered, and three horses, therefore, 

 under most conditions, do a fair day's work for a machine of this 

 size. The extra horse on a seven- foot binder adds slightly over 2^ 

 acres per day to the work accomplished, which would seem to indicate 

 that three horses are somewhat overloaded with such a machine. 



Table I,. — Average acres cut by 6-. 7-, and 8-foot binders in a 10-hour day. (235 



reports.) 





Width of cut and number of horses. 



Acres cut. 





Per binder. 



Per horse. 



Per foot of 

 cutter bar. 





10.90 

 12.10 

 12.50 

 15.10 



17.00 



3.63 

 3.03 

 4.17 

 3.78 

 4.25 



1.82 





2.02 





1.79 





2.18 





2.13 







The larger binders are more efficient in the use of both horse- and 

 man-labor than the smaller sizes. For example, on the six-foot 

 binder each horse cuts approximately 3.6 acres per day, whereas on 

 the eight-foot binder each horse cuts practically 4.25 acres per day, 

 or accomplishes 17 per cent more work. This is probably accounted 

 for by the fact that the weight of the eight-foot binder is only 

 slightly more than that of the six-foot. Each horse on the six-foot 

 binder drawn by three horses has to move more weight than on the 

 eight-foot binder drawn by four horses, while the amount of work 

 on the cutter-bar and other mechanism is in almost exactly the same 

 proportion. It is not surprising, therefore, that more ground will 

 be covered per horse by the larger binders, since the draft per horse 

 will be less. 



In considering the amount of work done per horse on the different 

 sizes of binders, the last column of Table I, showing the amount of 

 grain per foot of cut, must be studied. Most binders when in use 

 do not cut the full width of the cutter-bar a great part of the time, 

 as it is difficult to drive so as to take a full swath at all times without 

 occasionally missing some grain, and most drivers, therefore, will 

 err on the safe side by allowing a few inches of the cutter-bar to travel 

 over stubble. This margin will be practically the same for a six- 

 foot cutter bar as for the eight-foot, but the percentage of the sickle 

 which is idle will of course be greater for the six-foot than for the 

 eight-foot size. 



From these facts, it is apparent that the cost of cutting wheat 

 with a binder will vary with the size of the outfit used, the cost being 

 lowest with the eight-foot cut. In the past many farmers have been 

 prejudiced against the large binders because of the heavy side draft 

 on the horses, but this objection no longer holds, as with most modern 



