30 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1919' 



tractor than the man whose 75 acres are evenly 

 divided into wheat, corn, potatoes, and smaller 

 acreages of oats, meadow land and a garden. 



DERHAPS the most sensible and easiest 

 A way of arriving at the need of a tractor 

 is first to determine the number of acres which 

 can be worked by power which ordinarily should 

 not be less than 75, tillage and meadow land, 

 and then ascertain how many horses and what 

 man-power can be displaced by a tractor. If 

 the present acreage is cared for by four horses 

 and one laborer, then the average person will 

 not find it profitable to purchase a farm tractor, 

 because he can only hope to dispose of the ser- 

 vices of two horses, and the man still be retained. 

 If he is employing eight horses and two men a 

 "farmer" can, under average conditions, make 

 profitable use of a small tractor by reducing the 

 number of horses from eight to two, and employ 

 one man where two are now necessary. On 

 smaller private properties the question is de- 

 cidedly an individual one and must be answered 

 on its own merits in each case. The cost may 

 not be so much a factor as is convenience. 



The number of plow bottoms required to suc- 

 cessfully operate the ground is a dependable 

 basis to study the profitable or unprofitable use 

 of a tractor. The single walking-plow or sulky- 

 plow man does not need a tractor as a money 

 saving machine. If the place requires a multiple 

 of these tools he does — under normal conditions. 



If it requires a gang plow and one laborer to 

 prepare the soil for crops, these are conditions 

 which might make a tractor profitable. 



The man who uses two sulky plows, or one gang 

 plow, eight horses and two men, will find a tractor 

 suitable for his needs is a profitable investment. 

 If two gang plows, ten horses and two or three 

 laborers are necessary, the needs of a tractor are 

 multiplied. 



Or we can figure it out this way: If the mar- 

 ket value of the horses which can be displaced 

 by the tractor is equal to the first cost of a de- 

 pendable tractor, then the machine will nor- 

 mally be a paying investment. But, it should 

 always be remembered that where the cultivated 

 area is not "farmed" commercially there may 

 be other reasons that favor the new implement. 



Investigations made by agricultural engineers, 

 and editors of technical magazines, in Illinois, 

 Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri, prove that 

 50 acres of cultivable land are the fewest 

 which can be profitably worked with a small 

 farm tractor, under present power 

 and efficiency of the machine. The 

 variety of crops produced have some 

 bearing upon the comparison of trac 

 tor vs. horses but not to the extent that 

 the average layman would suspect. 



Where the entire area is allotted 

 wholly to small grains it can be 

 plowed, seeded, and harvested at 

 less cost than the same number of 

 acres devoted to row crops (corn, po- 

 tatoes, etc.). The raising of small 

 grains can be profitably accomplished 

 entirely by the employment of trac- 

 tors, but row crops ordinarily require 

 the use of horses for cultivation, as 

 only a small number of tractors are 

 so constructed as to make cultivation 

 by tractor practicable either from 

 the standpoint of cost to operate or 

 safety to the growing crops. 



A SAVING of 4c per cent, in favor 

 ■^^ of the tractor is shown in drill- 

 ing in wheat and other small grain 

 and 3^ per cent, in harvesting. But 

 in planting row crops the saving is in 

 favor of the horse of 40 hours for 50 

 acres; and 200 hours for cultivating 

 (four times over), this work not ten- 



n 1 • • 1 -i Many attempt. 



erally being practical with tractors. 



In harvesting row crops the saving is again in 

 favor of the tractor, 20 per cent, being the average 

 in harvesting corn and 18 per cent, in digging 

 potatoes. 



Replies to questionnaires submitted to 

 more than 2,000 farmers prove beyond any meas- 

 ure of dispute, that a dependable farm tractor 

 will displace a ratio of four out of six horses 

 upon any farm whose cultivable acreage is 50 

 acres and in excess thereof. 



It has been definitely determined that it re- 

 quires at least three acres to maintain a horse 



as extreme heat and tractors require no feed 

 when idle. 



Having determined that he can profitably 

 use a tractor (if he has) the next question is: 

 "What type is best suited to my needs?" 



"jpHIS is some problem. If plowing, harrow- 

 A ing, seeding and harvesting are the greatest 

 requirements either the two-wheel, four-wheel 

 or crawler (or caterpillar) types will suit, pro- 

 viding a41 farm conditions are normal. If much 

 cultivation is required, as in corn, potatoes and 



for 12 months. So the mathematically gifted other row crops a type of tractor designed for 

 will calculate as follows: such work, in addition to the other duties, will 



A 2-plow tractor, releasing four horses, will 

 permit 12 acres to be put into wheat which will 

 produce a minimum of 144 bushels, worth #288. 



The money crop value of these added acres 

 will be ample for fuel to operate the tractor for a 

 year, and some to spare. Horse shoeing and 

 veterinary service should offset the repairs 

 needed on the tractor. The extra time required 

 for caring for horses, if devoted to some other 

 work about the place would offset depreciation. 



Then where are the profits? The wages paid 

 to the man or men displaced by use of the tractor, 

 and shorter time required in the various opera- 

 tions. 



The tractor will work under weather condi- 

 tions which prevent the use of horses — such 



be necessary. If the land is low, and wet at 

 times, the crawler is to be preferred and the same 

 is true if the place is hilly. 



Perhaps the property is made up in consider- 

 able part of orchard? Then the tractor should 

 be low down so as to permit work beneath the 

 branches of the trees. Each individual case 

 requires separate consideration as to selection 

 of types. What might be ideal for the use of 

 one person might be entirely unsuked for an- 

 other. 



"How can it be best employed to make it 

 most profitable?" might be answered in a short 

 sentence — keep the tractor at work as much as. 

 possible. Amplified, the reply would take on a 

 wider range of words. 



A 2-plow outfit will plow on an average of 6j 

 acres per day of 10 hours. The 3-plow machine 

 about 10 acres and a 4-plow rig about 13 acres. 

 It will harrow and roll twice as much. If there is 

 sufficient reserve power, the seeding of small 

 grains can be done at the same time the seed-bed 

 is made ready. Harvesting requires about the 

 same time as disc harrowing, per acre. 



Row crops, like corn, cotton, potatoes and 

 sugar cane, are not profitably put into the 

 ground with the average tractor on small acre- 

 ages. Neither is cultivation, nor the harvest 

 profitable with tractors of the commonly ac- 

 cepted type except where large areas are special- 

 izing in a single crop. These operations are 

 most profitably performed with tractors of special 

 types, which the intending purchaser would do 

 well to investigate. 



Belt work affords added opportunity for profit 

 in the use of the tractor, providing the machine 

 used with the belt has sufficient capacity to work 

 Here's a conveniently mounted tractor cultivating a crop that tne tractor to at least two thirds of its capacity. 

 is well up. Profitable on large acreages of one kind Other small machines like the wood saw, etc., 



are well adapted to the small tractor. It is not 

 worth while to pump the water, turn a 

 grindstone, or operate a small home 

 lighting plant with the tractor. 



That the tractor may be used as 

 many days as possible it should be 

 "hired out" when its use is not re- 

 quired by its owner. Road work — 

 dragging, grading and filling — offers 

 opportunity for a tractor owner to 

 "hire out" his machine, and add to 

 its hours' work for the year. 



In fact there's lots ofworkinthe 

 neighborhood for a tractor if it is 

 sought. Remember too, that a trac- 

 tor idle gathers a generous surplus 

 of rust, and of cussedness when the 

 operator comes to start it. 



Investigate the tractor, and the 

 firm making it, and the dealer selling 

 it, before signing a contract and pay- 

 ing money for its purchase. Don't 

 be afraid you can't operate it. The 

 average tractor is as easy to under- 

 stand and keep running as an auto- 

 mobile. It isn't complicated, nor 

 mystical. The tractor is just a ma- 

 chine — probably able to run for years 

 with a minimum amount of care and 

 attention, and like all mechanical 



! have been made to adapt the tractor idea to the small place. The Beeman type dpv | ces it may go to the bad in a few 

 is practical on an acre intensively cultivated weeks. 



