The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-02-23
NORTH OAK A FARMERS
WILL PLOW BY STEAM

i thoroughly stirring and loosening the
soil and slibsoil if the following year
land year after year heavy engines, in
some cases weighing as much as four
\ teen tons, are to be run over the land.
jconlpressing it again? 81 1T is not only
lquantity that is required, but better
Icultivation of the soil.
POINTS for CONSIDERATION.
| The cost, of course. will vary eonsid-
lerably,. depending upon the nature and
condition of the land, the cost Of fuel.
tprice of labor, the efficiency and value
iof the. machinery and the number OF
working days per arnuill. For compar-
Iison, we will take into consideration
the, cost OF, breaking prairie, as this is
| the FIRST operation with which the set
tier has, to contend. sss 8gss @Ess " II IS,
The average cost OF breaking byhorses
is generally admitted to be about So
per acre, Contracts have been. made at
I$2, others as high as So With regard
to steam it is more difficult to arrive
at a fair average plowing being
yet In its infancy in Canada My own
lexperience, however, is that the cost
! is from $I.75 to- Sc. From information
obtained from users of steam blowing
outfits, find the average works out
at $I.so per acre and the number of
acres broken per day at IS. q
There is mitch need of some irlde-
| pendent and reliable tests being made.
Many arrive at the cost without taking
into consideration, interest, wear and
tear and depreciation. In some cases
farmers who ruin their own engines do
not allow anything for their time and
guesses are made as to the quantity Of
coal used Now, assuming that fifteen
acres are broken per day, that the value
OF the machinery employed is $4,000,
date outfit. that the machinery is work
| ing during 100 days per anntttn and
that one and e-quarter tons Of coal
lareS burned per day, the cost would
work out as follows: @:}% s.sS f4tE@
COST OF OPERATING STEAM PLow.
Engineer. per day !. *. -. .,...$ 800
! Assistant, per day y. ~. ....... 2. 90
| PloWman, per day -. so
Coal, / n tons, at So, per day.. Z. = so
Oil, grease, etc, per day ........ so
Ieafnster and team, per day.. !. 8 90
Board of men and team, per day 100
Interest on $4,000 for 100 days, at
% per cent. per day .........s... :. 2.4o
Wear and tear and depreciation,
10 per cent, per day. 80. 90
Generat expenses ......... LOO
Total cost 3. ST. s. /. :, 3. q. SEQ 90
Upon the basis of the above ealcuIa-
ton il will be seen that the fifteen acres
broken would cost $1.8o per acre.
But assuming that the cost is Sc, there
IS still a margin in favor of steam
breaking. The cost Of fuel varies very
considerably, but ] think the amount
given in the above calculation a fair
average if bought in quantities. Gait
IS the coal most generally used,
Before long, however, we shall see
the land cultivated with the straw pro-
duced upon the land A machine is
now on the market for. COMPRISING it
into lengths similar to that of cord
fwood, as now burnt in some engines.
Straw is. used BY some in its loose
state, but It is, somewhat inconVenient
| to fire with on an engine running over
rough ground and it is not always in a
| fit condition to burn.
| GASOLINE ENGINES. u
u -
| Coal, wood and straw Z, 4, 1i,eseses
not the only fuels in use for steam
cultivation Gasoline engines are maxi
ing headway in this and other countries
and there is no doubt they will prove
serious rivals to steam The advafi-
ttages in connection with their use for
steam plowing are that they are lighter
than steam engines, the expense Of cart
1 ing coal and water is done away with,
fewer number of men are required.
They are ready for use iii a few min
utes and as soon as they stop there is
no waste of fuel going on. The danger
from firing the prairie when plowing
or the. straw piles when threshing is
avoided &. ii
in England, where the direct system
1 was abandoned many years ago, ii is
/ ito some extent taking hold again due
mainly to the introduction Of the petrol
engifR Those now in use are mostly
of eighteen-ho power and their
weight does not exceed $500 pounds.
1 With this size Of engine a three fiirrow
|ploW IS used, working to depth Of
lseyeil or eight inches iii stubble They
lare also used for cultivating, harrow
| Ling, rolling, seeding. reaping, threshing
land hauling.