COST OF KEEPING FARM HORSES. 



19 



does the average time worked per week day rise above 3J hours. It 

 may be noted, as illustrative of the application of these figures, that 

 if the New York and Ohio farmers concerned had hired their horses 

 out at 10 cents per hour, and had failed to work them more than 1,020 

 and 866 hours per year, respectively, they would have lost on each 

 horse about 4 cents per hour worked. 



Of the various ways of keeping down the cost of horse labor, one 

 of the best is to keep the horses busy (see fig. 3). 



Fig. 3. — Of the various ways of keeping down the cost of horse labor, one of the best is to keep the 



horses busy. 



LABOR PERFORMED, BY MONTHS. 



In figure 4 is shown the average work done per horse, by months, 

 for each State group. 



Referring to this graph, the general importance of horse labor on 

 these farms for May, June, and July will be seen. In each State very 

 little labor was performed by the horses during January, February, 

 and March. Thereafter the work increased until, during May, the 

 maximum for any one month was reached. From then on to the end 

 of the year there was a fairly uniform decrease in the hours worked per 

 month. In New York and Illinois the increases in October and 

 November are due to gram threshing and corn harvest. 



On the Ohio farms, with few exceptions, the average total of labor 

 performed each month was less than on the Illinois and New York 

 farms. Also, it will be noticed that during April, May, November, and 

 December the horses on the Illinois farms worked more hours per 



