38 



BULLETIN 174, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



is less than two years, which, shows that for the most part they are 

 very modern outfits. The tractor did not entirely displace the horses 

 on any farm. 



Table XXII. — Displacement of horses by tractors on farms. 



Item of comparison. 



Number of farms 



Average size of farm acres. 



Average area tilled p?r farm do. . . 



Average number of horses per farm: 



Before purchase of tractor 



After purchase of tractor 



Average number of horses displaced per farm 



Value of horses displaced per farm dollars- 

 Average value per horse do. . . 



Average drawbar rating per farm horsepower. 



Average cost of tractor dollars. 



Total present rating per farm horsepower- 

 Average area tilled per drawbar horsepower of tractor acres. 



Average area tilled per horse: 



Before purchase of tractor do. . . 



After purchase of tractor do. . . 



Average area tilled per total horsepower after purchase of tractor. . .do. . . 



Average age of tractors years. 



Average use of tractor per year days. 



Cost of maintaining ahorse per year (estimated) dollars. 



Average price of fuel per gallon do. . . 



Average price of oil per gallon do. . . 



Farms on which 



horses were — 



Dis- 



Xot dis- 



placed. 



placed. 



39 



43 



924 



875 



844 



661 



25.3 



13.2 



8.8 



13.2 



16.5 



3.115.86 

 1 188.84 







176. 10 



26.1 



24.3 



2,6a5.00 



2, 775. 00 



i 34.9 



37.5 



32.3 



27.2 



33.4 



50.0 



95.9 



50.0 



24.2 



17.7 



1.8 



1.9 



94.5 



120.2 



84.09 



105.56 



.147 



.185 



.423 



.388 



All farms. 



82 

 896 



748 



18. 



11. 



7. 



1,423. 



182. 



25. 



2, 702. 



36. 



29. 



39.5 



67.3 



20.5 



1.9 



101.6 



96. 81 



.167 



.405 



While the value of special equipment which would be required with 

 the tractor is not shown here, from previous tables it is evident that the 

 value of such equipment would not be less than $700 per farm; there- 

 fore, en more than 50 per cent of the included farms the purchase 

 of the tractor increased the invested capital approximately $3,500 

 and on the remainder the horses displaced would lack about $300 of 

 equaling the value of the tractor and its necessary equipment. 



On the farms where horses were displaced, the tilled acreage per 

 horse before the purchase of a tractor was 33.5, which is believed to be 

 about the normal area. Although the acreage per drawbar horse- 

 power of the tractor on these farms was only 32.3, yet an average of 

 8.7 horses per farm was retained, making the tilled acreage per unit 

 of power 24.2 acres. On the other hand, the tilled acreage per horse 

 on the farms where horses were not displaced was 50 acres, and the 

 tilled acreage per drawbar horsepower of the tractor purchased was 

 27.2 acres, or an average of 17.7 tilled acres per unit of total horse- 

 power. The tilled acreage per total horsepower for both of these 

 groups would appear to be too small for the most economical 

 operation. 



In Table XXIII are shown some further data relative to the dis- 

 placement of horses by tractors. This table was prepared from 

 figures furnished by tractor owners in North Dakota who had used 

 their tractors for two seasons. 



