50 BULLETIN 1202, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
As stated on page 46 the majority of these men made some change 
in their tillage practice after the purchase of their machines, and a 
great many of them considered that one of the greatest advantages 
of the tractor was that it enabled them to do their work at the time 
when it should be done. The value of more thorough tillage than 
has ordinarily been done and the gains resulting from early prepara- 
tion of the seed bed for wheat in these areas are unusually recognized. 
However, other factors, especially the weather, have such a pre- 
ponderant influence upon yields that it is impossible except over a 
long period of years to determine definitely the effect of different 
tillage practices and of performing operations at different dates. 
Nevertheless each tractor owner was asked whether he considered 
that the use of his tractor had resulted in any change in yields per 
acre On any crop in any year. 
Finally, each tractor owner was asked if he had owned and used 
a tractor previous to the one he then had, if he believed his present 
tractor would prove profitable, and if he intended to buy another when 
it was worn out. 
FARMS ON WHICH TRACTORS WERE NOT OWNED. 
The size of the farms on which tractors were not owned and the 
area in crops are shown in Table 57. The average size of these farms 
and the average crop area are slightly less than of the farms on which 
tractors were owned. Likewise the proportion of the crop area in 
wheat was somewhat less and the proportion in crops planted in the 
spring correspondingly greater. For these farms 69 per cent of the 
crop area was in wheat, compared with 74 per cent for the farms on 
which tractors were owned. The smaller wheat acreage lessens some- 
what the requirements of both power and labor during the peak 
load period of the wheat harvesting and seeding seasons. 
In interpreting the data presented concerning these 85 farms it 
must be remembered that they are not at all typical of all the farms 
in these areas on which tractors are not owned. 
TABLE 57.—Average size of farms without tractors and acres in crops in different areas. 
Acres in— 
Num- | l | Total he pies 
ore heals | Bar- ie ; Oth- Igowed | Oth- aa pede of 
~ Wheat. ley, | Oats.| Corn.) ,oy, | Alfalfa. er [pooqi| er > | ped. | farm. 
| ~ crops. hay crops. 
ieee ea es saniiiaad aula Sea 
Acres.| Acres.| Acres 
Southern. ... 26 ins los, ee eae 13 15 6 8 5 6 1 250 66 316 
Western... . -| 31 323 29 | ~ 10 BJs = OME see Sean 11 8 8 446 333 779 
Northern....| 28 164 3 10 SOM esses 7 4 ees 288 88 376 
Total..| 85} 232} 11) 11] 50 5 Ba tre 10 3| 334] 170| 504 
1 Cane, Sudan grass, etc. 
NUMBER OF WORK STOCK. 
Table 58 shows the number of work stock, their weight, and value 
on these farms. The average weight of the work stock was not 
widely different from that on the farms on which tractors were 
owned. The value placed on them by the owners was on the average 
