﻿14 



BULLETIN 3, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table V. — A normal day's work in plowing stubble and sod with traction engine, giving 

 the average acreage reported, according to the horsepower of tractor — Continued. 



PLOWING SOD. 

 [Net hours in the field, 11.32; net hours in motion, 8.83.] 



Horsepower of engine. 



Width 

 of cut. 



Depth. 



Reported 

 acreage. 



Number 

 averaged. 



Adjusted 

 acreage. 



15 



Feet. 

 5.2 

 6.1 

 7.9 

 9.8 

 9.7 

 13.0 

 13.8 

 8.4 

 9.3 



Inches. 

 4.4 

 4.4 

 4.2 

 4.4 

 4.5 

 4.7 

 4.3 

 4.5 

 5.4 



10.3 

 13.5 

 15.7 

 • 18.3 

 20.3 

 27.0 

 28.2 

 17.2 

 18.0 



4 



16 

 12 

 43 

 27 

 24 

 11 

 10 



6 



9.7 



20 



13.0 



22 



14.3 



25 



16.2 



30 



19.5 



32 



20.8 



40... 



26.0 



45 



29.2 



60.. 



35.0 







HARROWING. 



Data were accumulated on the operation of harrowing with the 

 spike-tooth or smoothing type, the spring-tooth type, and the disk 

 or pulverizing type. With the spike-tooth harrow it appears that 

 41 per cent of farmers use two horses, 29 per cent use four horses, 

 and 23 per cent use three horses. Only 7 per cent use other numbers 

 of horses in their teams. The most popular width of harrow is 10 

 feet with 17 per cent, the 8-foot width being second with 15 per 

 cent. In other sizes, from 4 to 26 feet, the percentage in use is 

 quite evenly distributed between the limits of 4 to 7 per cent. The 

 draft of this implement is comparatively light for its width, so that 

 the harrowing of large areas daily or the careful preparation of 

 smaller areas is possible and economical. 



Analysis of the data showed that on freshly plowed land about 20 

 per cent less can be covered per day than on well-packed fields. The 

 average area reported for 3-horse outfits was less than would be 

 expected from an increase of 50 per cent in power, but the width was 

 not increased in proportion. With the four horses the width reported 

 averaged more than twice that of two horses and showed an acreage 

 more than 100 per cent greater. With the spike-tooth harrow, 

 which is an implement of comparatively light draft, those farms 

 which can economically utilize more horses in the team throughout 

 the season can also secure greater efficiency per horse in harrowing 

 than is commonly obtained by the majority who use the smoothing 

 harrow with one or two horses. When the data for spike-tooth 

 harrows were consolidated by widths, it was seen that the acreage 

 covered per day per horse and per foot in width increased directly 

 in proportion to the width. In general, each foot in width of the 

 harrow should cover from 1.5 to 1.75 acres daily, and each horse 

 could be loaded with 4£ feet in width and go once over from 6 to 6.5 

 acres without inconvenience on freshly plowed land. On well-packed 

 land each foot in width should harrow from 1 .75 to 2 acres and each 

 horse could be expected to work from 7.25 to 8 acres. 



