a 



This limited aveietge use of horse-drawn machines reflects the fact 

 that they are found on the smaller farms, are usually older than the tractor- 

 drawn types, and have less capacity. 



In studying machine use over time, it is important to recognize the 

 shift from horse-drawn to tractor -drawn machines and to understand the 

 effect of this shift on average use. For example, the average use of both 

 tractor-drawn and horse-drawn mowers decreased materially from 1941 to 

 1956 as tractor m^owers spread to smaller farms and as horse-drawn mowers 

 largely disappeared. Yet if both types are combined, the average use for 

 all mowers was essentially the same in both years, 65 acres in 1941 and 67 

 acres in 1956. That is, two changes were going on at the same time, and 

 these chsmges offset each other so far as average use of mowers was 

 concerned. Similar changes occurred with planters and grain drills. This 

 points up the need for proper classification of machines in measuring trends 

 in their use. 



Horsemeat for Animal Food 



During the last decade, an increasing proportion of the horses and 

 mules disappearing from farms have been slaughtered for animal food. 

 From 1948 through 1958, horses and mules killed for animal consumption 

 in federally inspected plants averaged about 40 percent of the number that 

 disappeared from farms. In 1940, only 6 percent of the total disappearing 

 from farms were slaughtered for animal food (table 5). By 1956, about 49 

 percent of all horses and mules disappearing from farms were converted 

 into animal food, mostly dog and cat food. 



The peak year for numbers slaughtered for the animal food industry 

 was in 1952 when more than 357, 000 equines were processed. Since then, 

 numbers killed for animal food have gone down, as has the total number 

 disappearing off farms. The percentage of those killed for animal food 

 remains between 40 and 50 percent of the total number taken off farms 

 annually. 



