8 
BULLETIN 174, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tractor owners known to the bankers, but this is probably the order in 
which they would appear if they were arranged according to natural 
conditions most favorable to the tractors and possibly also as to the 
length of time during which such machines have been used in these 
States, respectively. 
Table II. — Bankers' opinions regarding the tractor. 
Answers of bankers to questions indicated below. 
States (arranged according to number of tractor owners 
known to bankers). 
Has traction farming 
had a favorable or 
unfavorable effect 
upon the farming in- 
dustry in j-our vi- 
cinity? 
Do you consider a trac- 
tion engine a good in- 
vestment for the aver- 
age farmer in vour 
neighborhood? 
Unfavor- 
able. 
FavoraMe. 
No. 
Yes. 
North Dakota 
343 
124 
S3 
17 
57 
87 
22 
4 
23 
18 
18 
16 
6 
5 
5 
7 
2 
5 
57 
58 
87 
59 
53 
26 
35 
90 
51 
16 
23 
17 
12 
11 
5 
4 
5 
4 
422 
22.3 
172 
65 
144 
116 
61 
43 
61 
28 
49 
33 
17 
12 
11 
11 
5 
11 
20 
48 
26 
17 
11 
8 
10 
34 
23 
3 
5 
South Dakota 
Kansas 
Minnesota 
Nebraska 
Missouri 
Oklahoma 
Colorado 
3 
4 
Wyoming 
Idaho 
4 
4 
Utah 
1 
Total 
S42 
613 
1,486 
225 
Each of the bankers whose answers are included in this tabulation 
knew at least three users of tractors, while most" of them knew a much 
greater number, the average being about 10. It will be observed from 
this table that while 842 bankers believe the tractor has had an 
unfavorable effect on the farming industry and 613 state the effect to 
be favorable, the number of bankers who are of the opinion that the 
tractor is a good investment for a farmer is only 225, while 1,486 think 
that it is not. Bankers realize that the tractor has been a benefit to 
the community in helping to break and open up to cultivation large 
tracts of virgin land, but they also realize that the risk of this enter- 
prise, as well as much of the expense, has been borne by the indi- 
vidual farmer. Nearly 87 per cent of business men who have had an 
opportunity to observe the results of tractor farming consider that a 
tractor is a poor investment for a farmer. 
OPINIONS OF TRACTOR OWNERS. 
The opinions of the men who have used tractors corroborate the 
views of the bankers. In reply to the question, "Do you consider a 
traction engine a good investment financially for a farmer in your 
