The row -crop cultivator, a widely used machine, is often drawn by 

 workstock. Horse-drawn machines were used to cultivate an average of 45 

 acres of cropland in 1956, but this was only 6 percent of the total acreage 

 cultivated. Destruction of weeds is the primary purpose of cultivation, and 

 to do an effective job of keeping weed growth to a minimum, some crops are 

 cultivated as many as 6 times during the season. 



On farms with mowers, 5 percent of the acreage of hay was cut by 

 horse-drawn mowers. Depending on the crop and area, the mower may be 

 used from one to four times annually on the same land. In some areas, 

 farmers cut their hay crop once or twice during the growing season and use 

 the land for pasture the rest of the year. 



Some of the other machines used with horses for motive power deserve 

 mention here, even though they are used on a very small percentage of the 

 cropland. In areas with limited rainfall where row crops are grown, the 

 lister planter is used to advantage. It is used mainly to plant seed to a depth 

 at which the roots can get moisture from the deeper soil. In 1956, on the 

 farms whose operators reported these implements, about 3 percent of the 

 cropland was prepared for planting or planted by horse-drawn listers or 

 lister planters. The average acreage of cropland prepared in this way by 

 individual horse-drawn m.achines was 21 acres. 



A very small percentage of farmers reported using horse-drawn grain 

 drills in 1956. These drills were used on about 2 percent of the acreage 

 drilled and the average use per horse-drawn drill was 14 acres. 



The disk harrow is used to level plowed ground, make soil particles 

 finer, and destroy sprouting weed seeds. About 2 1/2 percent of the disking 

 done on farms in 1956 was done by horse-drawn machines, with an average 

 of 30 acres per machine. 



Use of Horse-drawn Compared with Tractor-drawn Machines 



Ordinarily, the average tractor -drawn machine is used much more 

 than the average horse-drawn machine of the same type. In 1956, for exam- 

 ple, tractor-drawn corn-cotton planters were used to plant an average of 70 

 acres, whereas horse-drawn planters averaged only 16 acres (table 4). In 

 1941, the differences were even more pronounced, although use of both types 

 of planters was greater. Similar relationships were found for mowers and 

 for grain drills. 



