MACHINERY COST OF FARM OPERATIONS. 



15 



THE RIDING CULTIVATOR. 



The riding cultivators used in this section (Tabic XI) last an 

 average of 12.5 years, doing 491 acres or 70 days of work. A culti- 

 vator that covers 15 acres annually lasts only three years longer 

 than one that cultivates 125 acres annually, being used in all less 

 than one-sixth as many days. Rust and decay appear to exact a 

 heavy toll of the man with limited use for his cultivator. 



From the computations for riding cultivators it appears that the 

 overhead charges per acre are more than twice those for the walking 

 cultivator, the depreciation charge averaging $0,065 per acre and 

 the interest charge $0,027. But to cover a given acre with a 1 -horse 

 cultivator requires nearly twice as many man hours as it does to 

 cultivate the same area with a 2-horse implement. Where wages 

 are low, especially if the area to be cultivated is small, the 1-horse 

 implement is more economical; but where wages are high and the 

 area large, it is cheaper to use a 2-horse implement. 



Table XI. — Riding cultivators — relation of work done annually to service and cost per 

 acre and per day used on 881 farms. 



Range of area covered annually acres . . I 1 to 20. 



N umber of records included 



Average area covered annually acres - . 



Years of service rendered 



Acres covered during life 



Days actually used during life 



Cost when new 



Total cost of repairs during life 



Total interest during life at 6 per cent. 



Total of depreciation, interest, and repairs 

 during life 



Cost of riding cultivator: 



Per day used 



Per acre cultivated. . 



321 

 14.7 

 13.7 



201.4 

 28 



$30. 00 

 8.91 

 13.29 



52.20 



$1.87 

 .259 



21 to 40. 



294 



31.0 



12.8 



404.5 



57 



$32.00 

 12.67 

 13.31 



57.98 



$1.02 

 .143 



41 to 80. 



190 



58.3 



11.4 



664.6 



93 



$35. 00 

 13.34 

 13.00 



61.34 



$0.66 

 .092 



81 and 

 over. 



76 



124.8 



10.7 



1,335.4 



186 



$36.00 

 21.72 

 12.63 



70.35 



$0.38 

 .057 



Average. 



39.3 



12.5 



491.3 



70 



$32.00 

 12.38 

 13.00 



$0.82 

 .117 



The average cost of repairs per acre for riding cultivators is $0,025, 

 (inly a little more than for the walking type. The total repairs 

 during the life of the average riding cultivator amount to about 40 

 per cent of its first cost. 



THE CABBAGE TRANSPLANTER. 



Cabbage transplanters, setting an average of 12.5 acres annually, 

 last nearly 13 years, doing 43 days of actual work (Table XII). 

 Farmers having the larger areas to plant obtain much greater acreages 

 and days of work from their transplanters. These highly specialized 

 planting machines could well be owned on shares, so that the imple- 

 ment cost per acre might be reduced by planting more acres annuaUy. 



