Show use U se of power on 0 n farms bi 10 ate item M agricultural worker able to till three times as many acres prepared by ilia be united of agriculture As a result of the increased use of power anil and laborsaving labor saving machinery in farming operations and the hie opening of new lands well suited to the use of machinery tile lie average agricultural worker la in the united states Is now low able to care for almost three times as 1 many alres acres of crops as tin an individual 1 could handle 75 years ago according to it a study recently made by the clyl sion elon of agricultural engineering of the united states department of agriculture at the same time the hours of labor on the he farm have been reduced and farmers have been relieved of much of the monotony and drudgery which formerly characterized their work power and labor together account for approximately CO 60 per cent of tile the total cost of farming and a better knowledge of the power requirements of farni farm operations and the adoption of more efficient types of power units will do much to cut down production costs second only to railroads the primary horse power for use on forms farina Is greater than that hut used lit in mining and manufacturing and Is ig second only to that required for railroads the total power used annually on farms amounts to nearly I 1 18 horsepower horse power hours and the he annual cost amounts to 10 a total of nearly nealy up to the present little scientific study has been made of the basic power requirements of various farm operations ins although the plow la Is one of the oldest agricultural tools for which power Is required the fundamental requirements of plow design tire still unknown find no satisfactory method of the actual work done by n plow has yet been discovered the university of wisconsin has conducted experiments which show hut it Is possible to run tin an ensilage cutter with one halt the power erdl ordinarily used by tills this machine simply by employing proper speeds and an improved blower carmi power Is derived from ant nin mals gas engines including tractors trucks and automobiles steam engines and tin electric and and tin and water motors up to about sixty years ago little power other oilier than him that furnished by animals was available aval lable to formers farmers the small gas tractor the truck the auto mobila and till electric power have only 1 fotie important ns sources of form farm power within the last ten or twelve years the estimated estina ted total numbers of power units now on farms in the united states stales Is as follows horses i is mules 46 oxen tractors Trac tora trucks stationary station a y engines e n g i n Lle etric installations windmills 1000 45 great opportunities exist for alie cutting down of tile the cost of farm operations through the reduction in the labor requirements of each operation and by a better application of the ilie power used before such savings can be effect effected however it Is necessary to make a thorough study of the basic power requirements and of the factors which affect these requIre requirements mens among these are climate character of the soil depth of plowing cultivating etc condition of the crop size sizel of fields size and type of power units needed and mechanical efficiency of the tools or machines employed by the farmer topography bF a factor actor topography Is 13 a factor to be reckoned with in considering the power requirements quire ments of farms farina in tiny any particular locality in the central west the land generally Is smooth and Is not cut by many streams or ravines tills condition encourages the laying out of large fields and makes possible the use of large machines and power units in eastern and southern states however the land Is frequently hilly and cut cui by ravines and streams making small and irregular shaped fields necessary this of course discourages the use of large machines and results la in a predominance of small farms probably the most serious drawback to the he efficient use of power in agriculture Is the extreme seasonal demand in each type of farming followed there Is usually some single operation which requires a large amount of power for a limited time and it ii Is usually this operation which determines ines the minimum amount of primary power that must be available in the corn or cotton belt the operation requiring the maximum power Is that hat of planting or cultivating in hay or small grain it Is harvesting such conditions result in what ant Is termed a low power load factor and a high cost per unit of power utilized the peak load could frequently bo be reduced by reducing the acreage of tile the crop which requires tills this power but as a rule the farmer Is justified in retaining such a high acreage of the crop in question because of the ine relatively high net returns which may more than offset the higher cost of power used in this operation other factors which have an important effect on the efficiency of farm power fire are the diversity of operations and the small power unit commonly employed under the control of one worker |