Horse Breeding in United States. 225 



the later year, on the other hand, the ground was ploughed 

 and pulverised in the same operation by a disc plough ; the 

 seed was sown with a mechanical seeder drawn by horses ; 

 the reaping, threshing, and sacking of the wheat were done 

 with the combined reaper and thresher drawn by horses, and 

 then the wheat was ready to haul to the granary. 



It is estimated that the time of human labour required to 

 produce 1 bushel of maize declined on the average from 4 hours 

 34 minutes to 41 minutes, and the cost of the human labour 

 to produce the bushel fell from iyfd. to 5^d. One of the 

 most striking changes is in the shelling of the maize, the 

 machine operated by steam shells one bushel per minute, 

 while in the old way the labour of one man w r as required for 

 100 minutes to do the same work. 



When men, in i860, mowed the grass with scythes, spread 

 it and turned it over with pitchforks to dry, raked it into rows 

 with a hand rake, cocked it with a pitchfork, and baled it 

 with a hand press, the time of human labour required per 

 ton was 35 J hours; but when for this method there were 

 substituted a mower, a haytedder, and a hayrake, gatherer, 

 and stacker drawn by horse, the time was reduced to 1 1 \ hours 

 in 1894; while the cost of human labour was reduced from 

 12s. C;d. to 5s. 4§d. The more noticeable economy in hay- 

 making is in the mowing and curing of the grass. 



It should not be assumed, however, that all the machines 

 mentioned have come into general use in the United States, 

 or that the earlier implements have been altogether discarded. 

 As a matter of fact the two-horse walking plough, the pitch- 

 fork, etc., are still in general use in the fields, while the com- 

 bined reaper and thresher, etc., have come into use only to a 

 limited extent. The more complicated machines are mainly 

 adapted to use in farnr.ng on a large scale under favourable 

 circumstances. 



Horse Breeding Industry in the United States. 



During the past ten years the horse breeding industry in 

 the United States has undergone considerable development, 



0 



