STANDARD DAYS WORK IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 
21 
To go over the ground with both an end-gate seeder casting 35 feet, 
and a 20-foot spike-tooth harrow drawn by four horses (see Table 
IX) requires about two-thirds as much man labor and half as much 
horse labor as is required for the 4-horse, 8-foot drill. To go over 
the ground with the seeder and with an 8-foot disk drawn by four 
horses (see Table VII) takes 15 to 20 per cent more man labor and 
just about the same amount of horse labor as is required for the drill. 
As far as quality of tillage, aside from the seeding, is concerned, the 
work done by a disk -drill should be somewhat better than that done 
by a spike-tooth harrow, but not so good as that done by a disk 
harrow. 
HARVESTING GRAIN. 
THE GRAIN BINDER. 
Table XXI shows an average clay's work for binders of different 
sizes in grain that is standing well. Oats sometimes lodge badly, 
especially in wet seasons, and when this condition exists a great deal 
of time is lost by the binder, the ground covered often being re- 
duced by as much as 50 per cent. The actual time lost in particular 
cases, or the average condition of the oat crop in this respect at 
harvest time, is difficult to estimate, and the farmers were asked to 
give their experience only in grain that was standing well. 
Table XXI. — Grain Milder. 
Width. 
Number of 
horses. 
Number of 
reports. 
Acres per day. 
Average. 
Acreage most often 
reported. 
Feet. 
6 
7 
7 
8 
3 
3 
4 
4 
19 
17 
30 
471 
13.3 
14.0 
15.2 
17.9 
Scattering. 
Do. 
15 (15 reports). 
115 (87 reports), 
m (107 reports). 
120 (178 reports). 
The table shows that a large majority of the men use 8-foot binders 
drawn by four horses. The averages indicate that the 7-foot machine 
drawn by three horses is the most efficient unit with respect to horse 
labor, 4.7 acres per day per horse being covered with this outfit, as 
compared with 4.5 acres for the 8-foot binder drawn by four horses 
and 4.4 acres for the 6-foot machine with three horses. While the 
fact that two-thirds of the men who have 7-foot binders use 4-horse 
teams with them indicates that this machine is a heavy load for 
three horses, a 7-foot binder and four horses is the least efficient 
combination shown in the table, each horse accomplishing nearly 15 
per cent less than those on either the 6 or 8 foot machines. 
