COST OF KEEPING FARM HORSES. 3 
TABLE 2.—Itemized summary of average annual costs and credits per horse, by States (27 
farms, 316 horses). 
GROSS COSTS. 
ae : New York (90 
Item, Illinois (154 horses).| Ohio (72 horses). horses). 
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 
Meediand bedding las tere LS ob. $68. 75 65. 0 $76. 86 58. 8 $91. 25 57.1 
BLS OI s oo cab NE es cat et cet eae lm 13. 99 13.2 27. 48 21.0 22. 09 13.8 
PETER ESU mre y meiae Ma ARE Ere COR ee 7. 90 7.4 8. 66 6. 6 9. 43 5.9 
SED] SITTER a5 Slee ee gna) ME a 4.95 4.7 7.18 525 12. 98 8.1 
Wseotequipment! +o 62 eo2 2s ee ek 3. 82 3. 6 5. 00 3.8 5. 85 Se 
PETOOMIM OME tee ey Oly teria ee po ot . 86 .8 2.35 1.8 4.56 2.9 
DED POCIE TO SOE NS aN st eat a oe EO 3. 46 Coen ll veneer lees raga eta ie 11. 56 7.2 
ENEtOSSIONICOltSS ee Se 4 ees 2 1. 24 TOM eee Re Eee ea 
EIS OTP ATIEOUS I ose iin n cya seers ose nN 212 2.0 1. 90 Nea) 2.09 683 
BING Geese ee pacers etter. he ice Meg al) 105. 89 100. 0 | GLOSS 100. 0 | 159. 81 100. 0 
CREDITS. 
IVC ETAT CMe mines ny oe nM aS noo POR eA i eel eee ie | Doe OU eee $TSASOy |e oe 
Horse eunrcciation EUnet a ayy Oe Bia ia Well Sates as | ZENO! a eee NIMS aT eee tie 
SM TOIRGRER Ue Ee ONG tis OT aR a ln la ony esses ae eee alee 143 We Uses as 
Tayi TAces Seatac! aac Mela aie | 5. 24 | Seasons ee Tos30 Stee) 14.79 | Baan hk 
| | | 
NET COST. 
Cost of keeping, less credits..............-- | S1OONES anes | $120. 37 | be poet re ee $145. 02 | Rie ah mints 
| 
1 The item of bedding is included with feed, because on many farms straw was used both as a feed and 
as bedding, and owing to the fact that refuse from the mangers was used for bedding, it was contrary to 
actual practice to attempt to make bedding a separate item. 
The gross costs, made up of the items of feed and bedding, labor, 
interest, stabling, use of equipment, shoeing, depreciation, loss on 
colts, and miscellaneous charges, are partially offset by credits for 
manure, appreciation of young work horses, and _ profits on colts. 
The Henan between the gross cost and the sum of these credits 
is the net cost of keeping a horse a year. This is, of course, the cost 
of the work performed by the horse. It will be seen that, with few 
exceptions, each item of cost was greater in Ohio than in Illinois, 
and still greater in’ New York. This variation in average cost is 
discussed in the following analysis of the several items of cost and 
credit. 
FEED AND BEDDING.! 
The term ‘‘feed and bedding” includes all grain, roughage, and 
pasture used by horses. Accurate feed records are difficult to. 
obtain, so that in determining the feed cost shown herein not only 
the ae records but also the yearly inventories of feeds and the 
amounts raised and purchased were all considered in arriving at the 
feed cost. 
k In the following pages, all references to feed include both feed and bedding. 
