Show EM TRACTORS ARE displacing HORSES A 71 ag t xa g J 4 41 K all A it f 1 T 9 K R ilk ky 11 i ua W ono one man ana tractor doing the work of one man and four horses tractor with special reference to the influence of tho the trac tor for on horse labor were made in the lie Itu summer allner and fall of 1018 ou oil corn velt belt farms tho the operators of these farms all tractor owners were visited by a representative of tho the united states department of and Je information on till form farm op trat rations ions was gathered gat lured tho the inquiry evered a full years jears work so that tho the part played by the hie tractor might bo be noted in all its relations tho the investigation was carried on in ohio indiana iowa BlIsso missouri url kansas and nebraska in 11 each of hebo ailiese states localities were visited in which a large number of tractors wro in operation the information obtained perhaps strictly and fully applicable only to tile farms vs ls cited may inny be taken as a general buldo RS RE to tile tho results which might bo be obtained tit in using a tractor on oil any corn belt farm of like type and organization the statements hero here anade and conclusions clu drawn brawn are not advanced as being final hut but simply as additions to the available information regarding farm faim tractors range of Conditi conditions to obtain results which would give alyo its near a representative average as possible an effort was made boget to get reports covering tractor operations under ns as many dIl different Terent conditions tie as pris possible and hento hence tile the conditions represented range from ad adverse alverso verso to ideal the farms visited ranged from flat to hilly the soils varied from the ho heaviest gumbo through all tho the various loanis to light drifting sandy soils some of the lie gumbo soils now under nilder cultivation on oil these farms were formerly unproductive owing to the inability of horses horse to plow the soils with the introduction of tho the tractor tills land has come coine under cultivation and Is 19 now big returns it 10 fe 0 W tk V 4 4 e ta A I 1 ay I 1 ita vt f four horses and one man doing the work of a tractor was waa found th that tractors attractors were more operated successfully in what would bo be termed unfavorable us as well veil ns na Avo favorable rable seasons which would tend to show their general adaptability while he w section covered Is rough ly called tile the corn belt farm farin practices are aie not lini uniform form throughout the alie region gion in most parts of the eastern corti corn belt states commercial fertilizers and lime are used those these being applied by horse pulled distributors in preparing tho the land for crops till all tic the ground way may be ba plowed or the small grain may be seeded on the provi previous bus years corn ground by disking or baring without plowing the latter practice reduces work for horses or tractor an fn n the busy season whether most of tile tho plowing Is done in the fall or only n small part I 1 annd tho the rest in tbt spring depends largely on loca tan where fall and spring plowing are done in about equal amounts on individual farms tho the tractor Is used more in the fall than in the spring and horses vice arsa versa it was found that when nil all tile the reports obtained were vera grouped together only five more corp operators plowed in lie fall than in the spring but the number of acres plowed in tho the fall averaged more per farm the tha number of men using horses as on an auxiliary source of power was practically the sanie samo in each case tractor saves labor many farms have woodlands and as these are cleared the tractor Is used for cawing wood for market thus increasing tho the day of belt operation the scarcity of labor ili hi 1018 hampered tho the gathering of crops and in the states on tho the ea eastern basteri edge of the corn belt the tractor was used to a considerable extent in the hay boy field to the of hores hore hor es 1 As corn Is in the principal crop in this ct flon the flip effect of the tractor on horse labor will be more noticeable in the case of this crop than linn lint of any other crop grown the averige ici igo acreage of corn per farm farin of those visited ite d being ecres which la Is 32 per cent of tile ble area of these farms the remaining crops grown on these farms I 1 hi order of crop acreage are wheat tiny liny oats barley tint and rye only tile the physical relationship of tractor power to horsepower lins been considered and no attempt la Is maile dinatle here to compare tile tho relative costs come of doing work by these sources of power the number of horses displaced on these farms Is shown but no inference has been drawn as to whether tile lie work Is being done more cheaply as n result of the change Surp summary mary of ReE remits tilts briefly summarized these tire nrc tile tho principal facts brought out or emphasized pha sized by tills this study 1 the number of horses disposed of on oil 1 11 forms farms nver averaging aging acre on oil tractors doctors had been used tor iw A year or over was 2 per farm 2 the average number of tillable acres per horse increased front from 2612 to after the he purchase of the tri tractor letor 3 nino operators out stanl 0 f its placed horses entirely on plowing disking and harrowing 4 only 10 16 operators allowed tivit horses to stand idle while tile tractor was in 11 use 5 the number of horses displaced by the lie tractors on thesa farms was governed by the tl number it wits tk essary to retain for corn cultivation and other work at tile he same time which the tractor could not do 0 the horses on oil sheso farms tire doing about 75 per cent of tile work and Artic factors tors the hie re Ina inbinder inder 7 the tractor was used for nn nill average of 29 ten hour lays days per year on tile homo home farm farin no record of tile lie of cullom work dono done was obtained 8 A three airee plow tractor on oil these farms does docs tile lio work of 84 horses in plowing disking dishing harrowing and harvesting 0 after purchasing the tractor the average fit of the farms als increased by 22 or 0 13 1 3 per c cent ait 10 tile principal advantage of a tractor Is its ability to do heavy work in a shorter time than it can be done with horses |