FARM EXPERIENCE WITJI THE TRACTOR. 
39 
Table XXIII. — Displacement of horses on farms in North Dakota where tractors have 
been us, d for two seasons. 
Item of comparison. 
Number of farms reported 
Average number of horses used: 
Before purchase of tractor 
A Iter purchase of tractor 
Horses displaced: 
A verage number 
Average value dollars. . 
Average cost of tractor do 
A verage drawbar rat iug of tractor horsepower. . 
Value of special tractor equipment dollars. . 
Cost of repairs required: 
First season do 
Second season do 
Owners stating that tractor is a good investment per cent.. 
Life of tractor (estimated) years. . 
Used per year .days. . 
Time spent in the field per day hours. . 
Time lost in the field per day ." do 
Fuel used in engines: 
Gasoline per cent. . 
Kerosene do 
Motor spirits do 
Average size of farm acres. . 
wners doing custom work per cent. . 
Men doing custom work who find it profitable do 
Reporting night work do 
A verage nights used by men reporting night work 
Farms on 
which no 
horses 
were dis- 
placed. 
16.6 
16.6 
2,543 
24.1 
720 
43.34 
115.64 
10.3 
5.4 
60.3 
12.7 
2.7 
Farms on which horses were 
displaced— drawbar nil ing 
of engine (horsepower). 
20 or 
less. 
13.8 
8.4 
5.4 
891. 56 
2,020 
18.1 
556 
46. 36 
83.33 
37.5 
6.2 
98.0 
13.3 
1.9 
69.4 
27.8 
2.8 
662 
78.9 
51.9 
26.7 
25.4 
21 to 29. 
15. 9 
9.2 
6.7 
1,202.92 
2, 665 
22.9 
743 
37.00 
43.29 
53.3 
7.4 
106. 5 
13.0 
2.4 
28.6 
64.3 
7.1 
779 
75.0 
60.0 
18.2 
17.5 
30 or 
over. 
29 
20.7 
12.1 
1,489.35 
3,000 
31.2 
803 
80.49 
125. 25 
52.4 
7.3 
90.0 
13.2 
. 1.9 
47. 6 > 
47.6 
4.8 
1,024 
85.2 
72.2 
18.2 
17.3 
While the percentage of farms on which horses were displaced is 
greater than for Table XXII, this is explained by the fact that many 
tractor owners in filling out the form on which the information was 
furnished gave only the number of horses used after the purchase of 
the tractor, the space for the number previously kept being left blank. 
It is very probable that many of these were intended to indicate that 
the number was the same, but in the absence of positive information 
on this point the data were not tabulated. 
On these farms the number of horses displaced is considerably less 
per farm than for those shown in Table XXII. In no case is the value 
of the horses displaced equal to 50 per cent of the first cost of the 
tractor. 
There appears to be little difference in the results obtained by the 
two classes of owners. The most significant variations seem to be 
found in the percentage of owners who report that the tractor is a 
good investment, the percentage doing custom work, and the per- 
centage doing night work. In these three cases the men who did not 
lay off horses after purchasing the tractor show much lower percent- 
ages than those who report that horses were displaced by the tractor. 
CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS WITH THE TRACTOR. 
The fact that some men have found the tractor a profitable invest- 
ment is proof that under certain conditions it can be used successfully 
for farm work. 
