44 BULLETIN 174, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



The present trend of the tractor industry points to the development 

 of cheaper and smaller outfits, designed to pull only from two to four 

 plow bottoms. 



The studies here presented merely aim to set forth in a broad way 

 tractor conditions as now found on the farm. A study of these data 

 should be made by every farmer contemplating the purchase of a 

 tractor. 



Up to the present time the tractor appears to have made for itself 

 no important place in the agricultural economy of this country. In a 

 few limited localities in the West where conditions especially favor its 

 use large tractors are used by some men with apparent profit. The 

 general situation, however, indicates that the large tractor is not to 

 be a factor in increasing farming by extensive methods and on a large 

 scale, for a few years at least. Instead, there are indications that the 

 tractor of the future must make possible more intensive agriculture 

 on farms of moderate size, though the large outfits will probably con- 

 tinue to be used on some of the exceptionally large farms in the West. 



It is worthy of note that some of the successful users of tractors were 

 able to reduce the number of their farm horses. This fact suggests 

 that there may be a field for farm reorganization to make possible the 

 economical utilization of the tractor. Such development depends 

 upon the production of a smaller and cheaper outfit, costing consider- 

 ably less per unit of drawbar power than its equivalent in horses, thus 

 offsetting the difference in their working life. It must be nimble, 

 simple, and absolutely certain in operation when properly handled. 

 Given such an outfit, the average farmer can afford to reorganize his 

 farm work so as to discard one or more teams, and by utilizing the 

 tractor for heavy field work and for driving machinery be able to 

 reduce the cost of crop production. 



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