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Show I Motor Truck Is ' Big Aid to farm Owners in U. S. Decrease in Upkeep Noted in Records Compiled by United States Department of Agriculture; Majority of F:utp-t5 Use One Ton Trucks in Then- Efforts I WASHINGTON The L'nlted Si it i department of agriculture ha Jr.sl completed interesting: un-J cxha;-'.-ivc survey which waa nducted i" ascertain as-certain the consensus of opinion r the f.'.rmcrs of :-n bell rn regard to i:ic utili lv of !h motor truck i a IB !o farming. Summarizing tho experience of S31 cornbelt ' farmers who own muior I rucks, the department found that in the opinion of nine-tenths f these men the greatest advantage in owning own-ing a mok r truck Is "savins time that in the op.nion of three-fourths of '!nm the greatest d idvantigi r roads and that SI per ent believe that I heir trucks turn out to tea prof liable Investment. "Th reports indicate, however." says tho depart aneut, 'thai on mo t of these farms thi I ' ha not reduced expense to a in gr it exi it. and that , I I; ftupplehients rather than replaces work stock and I hi r equipment. "On tho svora.se thes? trucks travel ".777 miles a yc;-i. j. n 1 :.n nu- i of -oration is between l-.'j cents and 17 ents per mile, i ial i the Ii I annuel annu-el cost from I i M70, Em '. truck () tap la cos an of 1.2 hi i of horses a year In th rrtb ll :-io:iml J20U, the-reduction in expense frr this Kern is in the i. iga 1 o. h o,i s. i ' per farm. Tor all farms the average amount of hired help saved by tho trucks is $13. On most farms these are the only two IU ins Of direct reductions re-ductions in expense whii h can be Ci lted to the average th sy amount to $( or 170 less titan the t t..i sPt of op-e op-e rating It To offsi-1 tl.ld added ectt, custom hauling done with th tru ks imou to about $303 a -.ir on all farm, l ii ing only something ill.- MO to S JO annual an-nual net expense which must be more than balanced by the savinc of t mc of the owner and members of the fim-.'. fim-.'. the ability to get crops umi livestock live-stock to market In better condition or ai better time and other benefits which are pot directly measurable in J dollars ai:d cer.t;-. If the average truck is to be a profitable Investment, "it must be remembered," adds th" department, "that most of these farms where trucks are owned are larger than the average, mid are located ft a considerable distance from the mar- MAX1 THI CKS The Investigation was made during tho last winter and spring. Farmer iruck owners In Indiana, Illinois. Iowa Missouri, southern VIcum.!', smrh-ern smrh-ern Minnesota, southeaster!! South 1 a koto, eastern Nebraska and eastern Kansas, who rats' corn as one of their principal crops and practice the general gen-eral grain and livestock farming characteristic char-acteristic of the cornbelt, reported to the department the us they make of their trucks, the cost of operation and the advantages and disadvantages of trucks for farm use. and other related information- Among the conclusions reached by the survey are the following: "Experience with trucks has caused 57 per cent of these men to decide that the one-ton size Is best for their conditions, -j per cent that the on-and on-and one-h;lf ton size Is best and 1-'- r rent ihat the two-ton size Is best. Practically one man In four has decided de-cided that a truck larger than the one-he one-he now owns would be better suited to his conditions "As compared with horses and wagons-the trucks save about tare -thirds 6t the time i quired f ir hauling 10 and from these 'arms. "I n (he averaga t!:ere are over Ighl Weeks during the year when the roads are In such condition on acrouiV Of mud. snow, etc., that lliese trucks nol be ui I. Tlv roads c,n which nearly 95 per cent of 'hem usually travel i re all or part d ?:. GOOD i;t).t;s. The ,. t.f the roads pre-' vented the use Of the trucks with pneumatic tlrei n little less than seven wei 'vs during thi ycai covered by the report; slid df those with stolid tires a little over nine weeks. "On mote then half of the farms the hauling In 'he fields and ;.roiind tho building ill done with horses a;.d wagons. The average estimated life of these trucks b six and a half miles, and on thfij basis depreciation is usually the U igle itr-m of expense in i on-Si on-Si with their of-ertlen. r .ir eosi rf operation in eluding depreciation, Interest en in-' nt. repairs, rcglstvatlon and lt- rhns, fcer, fuel, o.i. and i re, in 15.2 ctiiLn a mile for ihe One-half and tluee-qoisrter-ton trucks 16. J f..r the' one tan, cents for the one anil on e-quartcr and one artd one-naif ton and o.Jj cents f'-r the two-t' |