10 BULLETIN 910, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the question and 173 stated that they knew of no disadvantages in 
owning a truck. 
Table III. — The •■'principal disadvantage'' of a motor trad- as reported by 283 farmers. 
Principal disadvantage. 
Number 
reporting. 
Per cent 
of total. 
168 
59 
17 
9 
5 
5 
3 
2 
Cost of operation 
48 
Soft ground 
25 
First cost 
Incompetent driver 
15 
14 
8 
Other 
Total 
2S3 
It is seen that '"poor roads" was given as the principal disadvan- 
tage by 59 per cent of those who reported on this item. A large per- 
centage of the reports stated that there is some time during the year 
when the roads are in such a condition that motor trucks can not be 
used. (See page 18.) The men who live on unimproved roads, of 
course, have the greatest handicap in this respect, but even the best 
of roads may be impassable for a truck because of snow at certain 
times of the year in the region in which this study was made. After 
poor roads, either the cost of operation or soft ground is considered 
the greatest disadvantage; 17 per cent giving the cost of operation 
and 9 per cent soft ground as the greatest disadvantage. First cost 
is next in importance, 5 per cent considering it the most serious 
disadvantage, and troubles due to incompetent drivers and mechan- 
ical defects are considered prime disadvantages by 8 per cent of the 
owners. 
ROAD HAULING WITH TRUCKS. 
All materials hauled to and from the farms were divided into five 
general classes, viz, '' Crops," "Milk," '"Feed." "Fertilizer'' (includ- 
ing lime and manure) , and l ' Other. ' ' An idea of the relative amounts 
of these different classes of material hauled by the trucks may be 
obtained from the fact that 444 farms reported hauling a total of 
52,977 tons of crops during the year; 100 reported hauling a total of 
10,371 tons of milk; 96 reported hauling a total of 2,847 tons of feed; 
118 reported hauling 6,487 tons of fertilizer: and 159 farmers reported 
hauling 14,599 tons of other material. The character of the crops 
to be hauled depends, of course, upon the type of farming practiced. 
All the crops raised on the different types of farms represented in this 
study are included. 
Each farmer reported the size of load, length of haul, and the time 
required for the round trip with the truck. Similar information was 
given for hauling with wagons before the purchase of trucks. The 
