40 BULLETIN 1447, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
TABLE 387.—Cost of harvesting and threshing wheat where horse-draun and 
where tractor-drawn combines were used, 3-year average, 1920-22—Contd. 
HARVESTED AND THRESHED WITH TRACTOR-DRAWN COMBINES 
Hours and cost per acre 
Per- |Aver- 
; i cent-| age |Aver- Total 
Size of combine Re- | Acre- | age | acres] age Man Use of Use of cost 
(length of cutter bar) | ports|agecut| of | cut | crew, labor tractor combine per 
total | per | men acre 
acres | day pic eas | Redan Ran | Ga EN ee 
Hours} Cost | Hours| Cost | Hours} Cost 
Feet No. | Acres | P.ct.| Acres} No. | No. |Dolls.| No. |Dolls.| No. | Dolls.| Dolls. 
LE cara a SE 4 1, 248 1.4 |. 20.7 3. 2 1 Sis |plaali2 0.6 | 1.35 0.6 | 1.35 3. 82 
Zand elas ese wees 2 1, 1.5 | 22.3 | 3.0 Lean |elO7r 4 | 1.09 -4 | 1.16 3. 32 
1Gandel Besse eee 32) | 20; 157 | 22.8 | 32.6 5.4 Leelee o, BL JE Ry) oy | ky 27 4. 27 
20 ANG 2222 -~ Ss eee 14} 8,142} 9.2 | 38.0| 5.6 UGH | SUE Delelewe, 0) als DOr heneantA: 
DASE ayes OE ee Miyano 7} 4,810) 5.5 | 39:3 6.0 1.6 | 1.01 By 774 -3 | 1.68 | 3.91 
Acreage cut per 10-hour day by combines of the same size was 
larger for tractor than for horse-drawn machines. The number of 
horses displaced by the tractor ranged from an average of about 
8 for the 9-foot combine to an average of about 28 for the 20 and 
22 foot combines. A slightly larger crew, together with slightly 
higher wages, usually resulted in a higher man-labor cost per acre 
for tractor-drawn combines than for horse-drawn machines of the 
same size. The average per-acre cost for use of horses was consid- 
erably less than the cost for use of the tractor to draw the combine. 
On the other hand, the per-acre-use cost of the combine was some- 
what higher for horse than for tractor drawn machines. This is 
because the harvested acreage of grain on farms where tractor- 
drawn combines were used was larger than on farms where horses 
were used. The average grain acreage (including wheat, barley, 
oats, and custom work) per combine on farms where tractor-drawn 
combines were used was 802, as against an average of 455 acres per 
combine on farms where horse-drawn combines were used. Like- 
wise, tractor-drawn combines were used an average of 26 days per 
farm, as compared with 22 days per farm for horse-drawn combines. 
COMPARATIVE COST OF HARVESTING AND MARKETING BULKED 
AND SACKED WHEAT WHEN CUT WITH COMBINES DRAWN BY 
TRACTORS 
The comparative requirements and costs of harvesting and market- 
ing bulked and sacked wheat, where cut with tractor-drawn com- 
bines, are given in Table 38. Formerly all wheat produced in 
Sherman County was sacked and hauled to warehouses, but during 
recent years a few elevators have been established and a few men 
have started to bulk their wheat. To compare the relative economy 
of harvesting and marketing bulked and sacked wheat, farms were 
selected representing the two methods where the other factors influ- _ 
encing costs, such as acres of wheat harvested per farm, yield per 
acre, and average distance hauled, were fairly comparable. 
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