32 BULLETIN 300, U. ■ S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
Freight and express. $75. 74 
Towing 458. 19 
Gasoline 1, 792. 22 
Other oil 281. 49 
Teams and livery 932. 11 
Telephone and telegraph 25. 29 
Motor-boat operation 540. 96 
Interest and depreciation on machinery 5, 185. 00 
21, 644. 25 
Cost per cubic yard, $0.0682. 
Machine Machine 
No. 1. No. 2. 
Machine running $917. 97 $1, 509. 66 
Machine repairing 1, 431. 37 771. 96 
Machine moving. '. 105. 20 88. 51 
Machine bogged 156. 90 190. 54 
Total 2, 611. 44 2, 560. 67 
The excessive cost of labor given for the machines when bogged 
was due to the frequent crossings of a wide, muck-filled bayou which 
ran the entire length of the district. This bayou was about 1,500 feet 
wide; the muck ranged from 5 to 15 feet deep and was very soft. No 
tree roots, submerged timber, or stumps were encountered. The 
work coveied an area of about 7,000 acres, approximately square, 
which was traversed by parallel canals every half mile. The ditches 
cut by the excavators were at right angles to these canals and were 
spaced 330 feet apart. It was thus necessary to turn the machine 
around and run it light 330 feet for each half mile of ditch cut. The 
item " moving" is for taking the machine across the canals and for 
moving from one part of the district to another; it does not refer to 
the moving between adjacent ditches. 
On a project in southern Louisiana a wheel excavator, cutting a 
ditch ij feet deep with a top width of \\ feet and a bottom width of 
about 20 inches, was used. The machine worked on comparatively 
solid ground. Power was supplied by a 28-horsepower gasoline 
engine. The first cost was $4,000, and freight charges from factory to 
works were $350. After the machine had been operated for a short 
time it became apparent that the excavating wheel was far too fight 
and a new wheel was substituted. The soil was a silt loam, firm and 
uniform but not tenacious. No special difficulties due to soil condi- 
tions were encountered in this work. The chief obstacles to rapid 
progress were at first the weakness of the light excavating wheel, and 
afterwards the extra-heavy excavating wheel which unbalanced the 
machine. The tractors were larger than necessary and often broke 
down when turning on the hard ground. At the time the following 
cost records terminated, the work had been carried on intermittently 
for about 18 months; about one-half this time was occupied in 
repairs. During this time the machine dug 117,000 feet of ditch 4J 
feet deep, 45,500 feet 3J feet deep, and 9,250 feet twice over, the 
