8 BULiLETiN 814, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



gang plow cover .86 acre and .91 acre per horse, respectively. Four 

 horses on the sulky plow and six horses on the gang plow cover .72 

 and .78 acre per horse, respectively. However, the gang plow is 

 evidently a heavy load for four horses in the fall, excepting under 

 favorable conditions. The 28-inch gang is a somewhat heavier load 

 for six horses, the most popular sized team used in the fall, than is 

 the 16-inch sulky for four horses, but is a lighter load than the 16- 

 inch sulky for three horses. 



As far as man labor is concerned, the gang plow drawn by six 

 horses is, of course, the most efficient unit both in the spring and 

 fall, but when horse labor as well as man laibor is considered, it is 

 seen that the advantage of this largest unit is somewhat lessened. 



TKACTOR PLOWING. 



Table VI shows the daily performance for both spring and fall 

 of 2 and 3 bottom 14-inch plows pulled by tractors, as given by the 

 farmers using power outfits. 



Table Y1.— Tractor plovnng. 



Width 

 of furrow. 



Spring. Fall. 



Number of 

 reports. 



Acres 

 per day. 



Number of 

 reports. 



Acres 

 per day- 



Inches 

 28 

 42 



19 



42 



7.00 

 8.67 



21 

 46 



6.38 

 8.06 



A comparison of the work done by tractor-drawn plows cutting 

 28-inch furrows with that of plows of the same size drawn by horses, 

 shows that in the spring the tractor does about 30 per cent more work 

 per day than six horses, and in the fall about 35 per cent more, and 

 that it does about 40 per cent more than four horses in the spring, 

 and 55 per cent more than four horses in the fall. The tractors 

 plowed to approximately the same depth, and worked approximately 

 the same number of hours per day as did the horses. 



The acres covered per day per plow are from 15 to 20 per cent less 

 for the 3-plow outfits than for the 2-plow machines. As compared 

 with the horse-drawn sulky plow, the 3-bottom tractor plow does on 

 the average from two and- three-fourths to three times as much as a 

 16-inch sulky drawn by three horses in the spring, or the same im- 

 plement drawn by four horses in the fall. (See fig. 2.) 



The reports of over 600 tractor owners throughout the State of 

 Illinois as summarized in Farmers' Bulletin 963, "Tractor Exper- 

 ience in Illinois," showed an average of 6^ acres per day of 10 net 

 working hours for 2-plow tractors and 8f acres for 3-plow machines. 

 (Compare with Table VI.) 



