FARM EXPERIENCE WITH THE TRACTOR. 37 
DISPLACEMENT OF HORSES BY TRACTORS. 
It is diihcult to determine- to just what extent the tractor has 
influenced the use of horses on the farm, on account of the other 
influencing factors in the shape of automobiles, motorcycles, auto- 
trucks, and binder engines, all of which are doing work formerly 
done by horses. In spite of all these competitors the farm horse has 
increased considerably in numbers and value during the past few 
years. 
The United States Census report shows that in 1900 there were 
11,513,649 horses and mules on farms located in States west of the 
Mississippi River, while the Bureau of Statistics of the United States 
Department of Agriculture states that on January 1, 1914, they 
numbered 14,287,000, a numerical gain of 2,773,351, or 24.1 per cent 
in 14 years. 
During the same period the increase in the valuation of these 
animals was much greater, viz, from $493,454,902 to $1,427,074,000, 
or 189.2 per cent; but here again there were numerous influencing 
factors, the principal ones probably being a heavy export demand 
and the breeding of horses of a far better quality. 
The gains mentioned occurred while the number of gas tractors 
was increasing from less than 100 to perhaps 13,000. 
A comparison of the increase in the number of farm horses and 
of tilled acres in the States west of the Mississippi River would be 
desirable, but accurate figures on the increase in tilled acres are not 
available, and, furthermore, improvements in farm implements 
and in the management of farms have tended to increase the acreage 
tilled per horse. 
A study of the conditions existing on farms where tractors have 
been introduced is of especial interest in this connection. The 
result of such a study is shown in Table XXII. 
The data contained in this table were obtained by personally visit- 
ing the tractor owners. The records for the farms represented were 
selected without reference to the number of horses displaced, the 
Only point which was considered in selecting them being to ascertain 
whether the information furnished was complete. Therefore, the fact 
that of the number thus selected 39 belonged in the group where 
horses were displaced by the tractor and 43 in the group where no 
horses were displaced by the tractor would seem to be a rather reliable 
indication that in about 50 per cent of the cases the tractor does not 
actually displace horses on farms where it is introduced. 
These farms average approximately 900 acres in size and should 
therefore provide a large amount of work for the power employed, 
whatever its kind. They are mostly of the grain type, exceptionally 
well adapted for the use of a tractor. The average age of the tractors 
