THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 255 



(b) Grass and stubble three inches high, ground soft and 



spongy. 

 Narrow tire cut rut five to six inches deep. 

 Broad tire cut rut one and one-half to two inches deep, 



doing no damage. 

 Narrow tire required 569.1 pounds to draw the load. 

 Broad tire required 323.6 pounds to draw the load. 

 Difference in favor of broad tire, 245.5 pounds, or 84 



per cent. 



It will be seen that in only one test out of four did the nar- 

 row tire have the advantage in draft, and that was where the 

 surface of the road was soft, but the sub-surface was fairly 

 hard. The narrow tire cut through to this hard surface while 

 the broad tire remained on top. In all of the tests on meadows 

 and plowed land, the difference was always in favor of the broad 

 tire because on them the load was much more easily drawn and 

 did much less damage to the field. One trial, four horses pulled 

 the ton load on narrow tires, with an average draft of 876 

 pounds. Two horses pulled the same load over the same road 

 with an average draft of 379.9 pounds, showing that the same 

 load was less difficult for two horses on broad tires than for 

 four horses on narrow tires. When it is considered that most of 

 the hauling done by farmers is on their farms and not on the 

 roads, this saving in draft is quite an item in the course of a year. 

 When the protection to the field and roadbed is considered, it 

 seems strange that there are so many narrow-tired wagons In 

 tiFe. 



