WORKING HORSES.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16712, 30 January 1926, Page 19 (Supplement)

WORKING HORSES.

Of late years the costs of tractorfarming have often been quoted in an effort to prove the effectiveness of the machine in comparison with" horses.

Now few farmers are in a position to s quote the actual costs incurred in carrying out cropping with horses, so the arguments are mostly on one side. Turretfield Demonstration Farm in South Australia, which is being run on commercial lines as a mixed wheat and sheep farm, supplies exact figures for its working horses, and as the farm accounts are under the care of a trained accountant these may.be accepted as correct for that district. The statement published in the Journal of Agriculture (S.A.) shows the cost of upkeep of between 3G and 37 working horses over a period of three years, which is summarised in round numbers as follows: —Wages, £7O; feed, £450; grazing, £76; depreciation and repairs," £36; sundries, £l7; total, £649 This works out at £l7 15s 5d a horse, ' the distribution being—wages £J. 18s 2d, feed, £l2 6s lOd, grazing £2 Is 9d, depreciation and repairs 19s lOd, and .sundries 8s lOd. In a detailed statement the cost of a horse-hour of work is put at about 4.8 d, which makes the the cost of an eight-hour day ,3/2*.

The cost per acre of various farm operations has also been summarised as follows: —Fallow ploughing, 9s 2d; cultivating, 4s 9d; harrowing, Is id; combine drill, 4s 2d; drilling, 3s id; binding,' 7s 8d; harvester (wheal),'9s 4d; harvester (barley), 8s 2d; reaperthresher (wheat), 7s 6d; reaperthresher (barley), 4s lid; reaperthresher (peas), 12s Id; stripper (wheat), 9s 2d; stooking, 2s lOd. These are valuable figures to anyone interested in farm economy, and will serve as a basis for many farm contracts. Other useful costs are also given. Under costs per bushel, grading seed wheat is put at 6.2 d, pickling (blucstone) 1.7 d, winnowing 3.2 d, bag sewing 0.4 d. In this summary is included costs per ton of stooking Is 7d, carting and stacking hay in field 8s 2d, binding 4s Id, chaff cutting 13s 4d.