50 BULLETIN 492, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



etable matter. It is also quite probable that by using better ma- 

 chinery and practicing better tillage methods the yields could be 

 raised considerably. 



RELATION OF SIZE OF FARM TO TYPE OF MACHINERY USED. 



Twenty-five farms with 50 tilled acres or less. — On these farms 

 there were usually found a one or two horse wagon, 1 to 4 one-horse 

 plow stocks, a cotton planter, plow and wagon gears for the work 

 stock, and necessary hand tools. In addition to these items, two- 

 thirds of these farms had one or two horse turning plows, one-half 

 had one-horse fertilizer distributors, and 3 farms each had a mower 

 and hay rake. It was only an occasional farm that had any culti- 

 vating tools other than plow stocks. 



Forty-one farms with 51 to 100 tilled acres. — One-half of these 

 farms had more than 1 wagon, usually a one-horse and a two-horse 

 wagon. Practically all had a two-horse turning plow, and an occa- 

 sional farm had 2. In addition to the two-horse plows, about one- 

 third of these farms had one-horse plows. Of the cultivating tools, 

 every farm had one-horse plow stocks, and 3 farms had two-horse 

 stocks. In addition to plow stocks, one-third of them reported other 

 types of one-horse cultivating tools, and 1 farm had a two-horse 

 cultivator. One-half of these farms had two-horse harrows, usually 

 a disk, but occasionally a spike-tooth. One-half had each a mower 

 and hay rake, and 5 reported grain binders. 



Seventy-one farms with 101 to 250 tilled acres. — The one-horse 

 plow stock is found on every farm in this group, but other one-horse 

 cultivating tools are of more frequency than in the groups already 

 discussed, and 1 in 10 had a two-horse cultivator. Mowers, hay rakes, 

 and harrows were found on two-thirds of the farms. One out of 

 every 2 farms reported grain binders. Some items of machinery not 

 found on the smaller farms occur with more or less frequency on 

 farms of this size. Twelve farms had engines, 7 had hay presses, 

 3 had wood saws, 2 had feed grinders, 2 had pea hullers, 1 had a 

 manure spreader, and 1 a lime spreader. 



Tioenty-three farms with 251 tilled acres and over. — The difference 

 in type of machinery found on these farms from that on the farms 

 of 100 acres and less is quite marked. While the single-plow stock 

 is in general use on farms of all sizes, there is an increase in the use 

 of other one-horse cultivating tools and in the use of two-horse 

 cultivators on the large farms. Seventy per cent of these large farms 

 reported numerous one-horse cultivating tools other than plow stocks, 

 and over one-fifth of them had two-horse cultivators. Practically 

 all the farms had harrows, mowers, rakes, and grain binders. One 

 in 3 farms had sulky plows and 3 had tractor plows. Three- fourths 

 of them had engines and several had stump pullers. 



