32 BULLETIN 300, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Freight and express $75. 74 



Towing 458. 19 



Gasoline 1, 792. 22 



Other oil 281. 49 



Teams and livery 932. 11 



Telephone and telegraph 25. 29 



Motor-boat operation 540. 96 



Interest and depreciation on machinery 5, 185. 00 



21, 644. 25 

 Cost per cubic yard, $0.0682. 



Machine Machine 



No. 1. No. 2. 



Machine running $917. 97 $1, 509. 66 



Machine repairing 1, 431. 37 771. 96 



Machine moving 105. 20 88. 51 



Machine bogged 156. 90 190. 54 



Total 2, 611. 44 2, 560. 67 



The excessive cost of labor given for the machines when bogged 

 was due to the frequent crossings of a wide, muck-filled bayou which 

 ran the entire length of the district. This bayou was about 1,500 feet 

 wide; the muck ranged from 5 to 15 feet deep and was very soft. No 

 tree roots, submerged timber, or stumps were encountered. The 

 work coveied an area of about 7,000 acres, approximately square, 

 which was traversed by parallel canals every half mile. The ditches 

 cut by the excavators were at right angles to these canals and were 

 spaced 330 feet apart. It was thus necessary to turn the machine 

 around and run it light 330 feet for each half mile of ditch cut. The 

 item "moving" is for taking the machine across the canals and for 

 moving from one part of the district to another; it does not refer to 

 the moving between adjacent ditches. 



On a project in southern Louisiana a wheel excavator, cutting a 

 ditch 4 \ feet deep with a top width of 4^ feet and a bottom width of 

 about 20 inches, was used. The machine worked on comparatively 

 solid ground. Power was supplied by a 28-horsepower gasoline 

 engine. The first cost was $4,000, and freight charges from factory to 

 works were $350. After the machine had been operated for a short 

 time it became apparent that the excavating wheel was far too light 

 and a new wheel was substituted. The soil was a silt loam, firm and 

 uniform but not tenacious. No special difficulties due to soil condi- 

 tions were encountered in this work. The chief obstacles to rapid 

 progress were at first the weakness of the liglit excavating wheel, and 

 afterwards the extra-heavy excavating wheel which unbalanced the 

 machine. The tractors were larger than necessary and often broke 

 down when turning on the hard ground. At the time the following 

 cost records terminated, the work had been carried on intermittently 

 for about 18 months; about one-half this time was occupied in 

 repairs. During this time the machine dug 117,000 feet of ditch 4£ 

 feet deep, 45,500 feet 3$ feet deep, and 9,250 feet twice over, the 



