40 BULLETIN 1202, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
VARIATIONS IN COST. 
There were wide variations in the cost of power on individual farms, 
the total cost of power for drawbar work on some farms having been 
twice as great as on others of the same size and type. Figure 
15 shows the variations in each area. In this figure each dot 
represents one farm, the vertical distance from the base line represents 
the combined cost of keeping work stock and of using the tractor for 
drawbar work, and the horizontal distance from the left represents the 
crop area of thefarm. The heavy lines connect the points representing 
the average cost on farms of different sizes as shown in Table 46. 
In some cases the death or injury of some of the work stock caused 
heavy depreciation and a high cost of power for the year; on other 
farms Bit repair costs for the tractors were responsible. It is evident, 
however, that the proper management of tractor and work stock and 
the judicious choice of sources of power for different operations would 
have resulted in a considerable decrease in the cost of power for the 
year on many of the farms. 
SOME FARMS WITH LOW COSTS FOR POWER. 
The story of an individual farm on which the costs indicate an 
efficient use of power should be of value in showing how power can 
be obtained at alow cost. Table 47 is asummary of the data incident 
to the cost of power for drawbar work on six such farms, two in each of 
thethree areas. Therelative costsfor power on thesefarms as compared 
with the other farms in the same areas are shown in Figure 15. 
TaBLE 47.—Farms with low costs of power for drawbar work. 
Southern area. | Western area. | Northern area. 
_————$—$—<—<<— | qc“§ |——uqe | ————qq— | um i | 
RERODVALCD on nek ok oc oc te ph ee ate ea eee acres... 146 392 740 | 1,090 145 622 
Area imiwiheat.o.-ccc. 2-5. Coase os es oe do.-se 125 285 275 900 85 450 
ATCA MMNCOMM: <2 te dct ec oe tans seco eee eee dow: 0 30 80 0 60 120 
REZBODURACHOY 92. = 2-6. mos Seana ea eeee reer plows. . 2 3 3 3 3 4 
Watevotpurchase of-tractor - =. 4... sea eee eee July | Aug Mar. | June. | Aug Apr. 
1919. | 1919. | 1920. | 1920. | 1918 1920. 
Nek Of wOlK StOCk!(..1-. shoes tat sea eee 2 8.5 10 20 4 12 
Tractor work per year: 
Drawbats 2). 62-0 iy. 25 eee oe ee hours... 342 242 489 534 123 266 
[S521 ee, See an RE EMD ik” oS Oo eel pS do... : 5 120 0 20 75 238 
Gustom: 2208. en kee Pee gdo-=- 0 180 140 0 0 355. 
SOTO ee a lain claw shee ea ee ee ee aoe 347 542 629 554 198 859 
Horselabor equivalent oftractor (drawbar) work..do..| 2,013 | 2,638 | 4,446] 4,910 716 4,026 
PIT SUCOST ONULACLOS . Fo..25% oc «cet eetemccceee dollars. . 790 | 1,200} 1,095] 1,760 | 1,660 2,505 
Pemimaved topalliies =...) =e nocee eee eee years... 8 8 5 10 10 6 
Annual cost ofrepairs and upkeep............ dollars. . 22 116 50 5 7 237 
Fuel per year for drawbar work: 
BRSOLUO So yoc  co Se a  n eee t e galls... 571 578 6 67 3 10 
iNenosenes <2 5- 0 ete Jae ogee eee ee GO: s2tle seen se lae eee 1, 274 844 262 700 
Oil per year for drawbar work.................. doz 33 48 98 44 16 30 
Cost of using tractor for drawbar work: 
ATE ORT 5 oe 2 est od Se. Soe eee dollars. . 339 331 462 432 202 373 
ee en nae do..:.| 0.99} 1.37] 0.94] 0.81] 3.64 1. 40 
Zou yaine of work stock...\.....- 22-2 2.----neces go...2 55 650 612] 2,100 400 1, 435 
Annual feed consumption per head: 
Chi Woes | eae Seer nie a Em ees = pounds..} 1,600 | 1,596 360 600 | 2,800 1,470 
avant MOU eDAPOs 2.6 ee once ewe en rece ees do....}| 3,000 | 2,340] 4,000] 6,000 | 5,006 1, 660 
Cost of keeping work stock per year.........-- dollars. . 115 601 392 740 261 794 
Cost per head of keeping work stock per year....do.... 58 71 39 37 65 66 
PICISGISDOMMON VOals- cons ns-- ws wes. 2cs-~- sees hours..| 1,765} 6,988 | 3,820] 7,160 | 2,317 6, 896 
Hare labor per Meads 2 Soba. ese cere te) 882 822 382 359 579 575 
Cost.per hour of horselabor.....-.....-..-.<---: cents 7 1 11 12 
Horse labor equivalent of total drawbar work. -.hours..} 3,778 | 9,626] 8,266 | 12,070 | 3,033 | 10,922 
Proportion of total drawbar work done with trac- 
BORE oes oe, Sage Bere eee ee eas oe es per cent. . 53 28 54 41 23 37 
Total cost per year of power for drawbar work (tractor 
eitd HGrse) 2.32 eters ee ee dollars. . 454 932 854 | 1,172 463 1, 167 
Cost per crop acre of power for drawbar work....do....| 1.32 2. 38 1.15 1.08 3.19 1. 86 
