FAEM EXPERIENCE WITH THE TKACTOR. 7 
OBSERVATIONS OF BUSINESS MEN. 
Most of the inquiries to business men were addressed to bankers. 
It is believed that bankers have a more intimate knowledge of the 
financial standing of the farmers of their community than most other 
classes of business men and are also more likely to furnish an unbiased 
and unprejudiced opinion, based on their knowledge of the financial 
success of the men who are farming with horses and those who are 
using tractors. The prosperity of the bankers of a community 
depends largely upon the prosperity of their patrons, and they naturally 
keep well informed on all factors influencing the welfare of the com- 
munity. It appears from many of the answers that the writers had 
been carefully observing the effect of farm tractors for several years, 
and their conclusions were based on actual knowledge of the general 
prosperity of the men who farmed with horses and those who used 
tractors. 
The replies received from all classes of business men showed that 
where tractors had been used to any great extent or for a considerable 
length of time the business interests have become prejudiced against 
them and believe they have had an injurious effect on the farming 
community and general prosperity of the country. Hundreds of 
facts and arguments were furnished in support of these opinions, 
which were not in a form permitting tabulation. The principal 
reason advanced seems to be the fact that a great many men who 
have purchased tractors have failed to make them pay, and a large 
percentage, having bought expensive outfits on time, lost their entire 
property through foreclosure proceedings and judgments on notes. 
It is unfair, however, to ascribe all of these failures to the ineffi- 
ciency of the tractor; as faulty operation had its share. A very 
important contributing cause has been the poor business management 
and judgment of the farmer in incurring an obligation nearly or 
quite equal to the entire value of his property with no means of meet- 
ing it except the production of a good crop or the possible performance 
of a large amount of lucrative custom work. While a good crop 
might save him from bankruptcy, he would be more properly termed 
"lucky" than a good manager. The failure of a crop the first year 
after the purchase of the tractor has often been sufficient to ruin the 
owner, while serious breaks or other accidents have frequenthv 
accomplished the same result. 
Without referring further to the reasons for their opinions, most of 
the business men consulted do not consider the tractor a good invest- 
ment for the average farmer. The opinions of bankers as to the 
effect the tractors have had on the farming industry and their desira- 
bility as an investment for the average farmer are showm in Table II. 
In this table the States are arranged according to the number of 
81435°— Bull. 174—15 2 
