MACHINERY COST OF FARM OPERATIONS. 
15 
THE RIDING CULTIVATOR. 
The riding cultivators used in this section (Table XI) last an 
average of 12.5 years, doing 491 acres or 70 days of work. A culti- 
vator that covers 15 acres annually lasts only three years longer 
than one that cultivates 125 acres annually, being used in all less 
than one-sixth as many days. Rust and decay appear to exact a 
heavy toll of the man with limited use for his cultivator. 
From the computations for riding cultivators it appears that the 
overhead charges per acre are more than twice those for the walking 
cultivator, the depreciation charge averaging $0,065 per acre and 
the interest charge $0,027. But to cover a given acre with a 1-horse 
cultivator requires nearly twice as many man hours as it does to 
cultivate the same area with a 2-horse implement. Where wages 
are low, especially if the area to be cultivated is small, the 1-horse 
implement is more economical; but where wages are high and the 
area large, it is cheaper to use a 2-horse implement. 
Table XL — Riding cultivators — relation of work done annually to service and cost per 
acre and per day used on 881 farms. 
of area covered annually acres . . 1 to 20. 
Number of records included 
Average area covered annually acres . 
Years of service rendered 
Acres covered during life 
Days actually used during life 
Cost when new 
Total cost of repairs during life 
Total interest during life at 6 per cent. 
Total of depreciation, interest, and repairs 
during life 
t of riding cultivator: 
Per day used 
Per acre cultivated. . 
321 
14.7 
13.7 
201.4 
28 
$30.00 
8.91 
13.29 
52.20 
$1.87 
.259 
294 
31. G 
12.8 
404.5 
57 
$32. 00 
12.67 
13.31 
57.98 
$1.02 
.143 
41 to! 
190 
58.3 
11.4 
664.6 
93 
$35.00 
13.34 
13.00 
61.34 
$0. 60 
.092 
81 and 
over. 
76 
124.8 
10.7 
1,335.4 
$36. 00 
21.72 
12.63 
70.35 
$0.38 
.057 
Average. 
39.3 
12.5 
491.3 
70 
$32.00 
12.38 
13.00 
$0.82 
.117 
The average cost of repairs per acre for riding cultivators is $0,025, 
only a little more than for the walking type. The total repairs 
during the life of the average riding cultivator amount to about 40 
per cent of its first cost. 
THE CABBAGE TRANSPLANTER. 
Cabbage transplanters, setting an average of 12.5 acres annually, 
last nearly 13 years, doing 43 days of actual work (Table XII). 
Farmers having the larger areas to plant obtain much greater acreages 
and days of work from their transplanters. These highly specialized 
planting machines could well be owned on shares, so that the imple- 
ment cost per acre might be reduced by planting more acres annually. 
