28 BULLETIN 1447, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
of the tractor is shown in Figure 8. Before the purchase of the 
tractor some land was plowed and disked with horses. The horse 
hours for this work have been converted into their equivalent in 
tractor hours. All but four head of the work stock was sold at the 
time of the purchase of thé tractor and the wheat was contract- 
hauled to market. The use of large equipment with proper hitches 
and eveners allowed a much greater reduction in the number of work 
stock than usually occurs on these farms after the purchase of a 
DISTRIBUTION OF HORSE AND TRACTOR WORK ON A WHEAT FARM 
AFTER THE PURCHASE OF A TRACTOR 
Sherman Co,, Oreg., 1923 
HOURS 
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200 | OUTSIDE WORK 
| | 
500 [MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 
JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. 
yg 
Pa Horse Hours — Tractor Hours 
Fic. 8.—Tillable area of farm, 795 acres, divided as follows: Winter wheat, 400 
acres ; summer fallow, 390 acres; alfalfa, 5 acres. Wheat hauted to market, 13,220 
bushels. Work done off farm: Summer fallow work except plowing on 303 acres; 
seeding, 303 acres; also 160 hours of tractor work, mainly combine harvesting. 
Eight horses worked 3,688 hours, and the tractor was used 995 hours during the 
year 
tractor. It is estimated that with the tractor eight horses would 
have been sufficient to do the farm work. After the purchase of the 
tractor, the number of horses needed was measured by the amount 
of wheat hauling there was to do, the “ peak ” of which occurred in 
the first 10-day period of August, and amounted to 720 horse hours. 
The total horse hours for the year amounted to 3,688. ‘The tractor 
hours amounted to 995, of which 160 hours consisted of outside work, 
mainly harvesting and threshing with the combine. 
