Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-08-13
COST OF HORSE LABOR.

| one OF UQe Dig lUemS III Ulle cOSu Vi
crop production is horse labor, and ir
the majority of instances, from ar
economic point Of view, it is a larger
item than it ought to be. Few farm
ers ever stop to consider the cost OF
their motive power, believing that
because the raise their own horses
and grow feed for them it is not nee
esSary to keep track of the cost OF
maintaining the necessary number OF
horses to do their work. No matter
what system of farming a man pur.
sues, there are times each year wher
his horses have little or nothing tC
do. During the spring and fall and
perhaps also during the summer
months. there is usually plenty OF
work for the horse, and during GER
tain months each year the farmer is
very much in need Of plenty Of horse
power. so much so that he has to keel
several horses in idleneSs during a
larger part of the year in order tC
have enough when work is plentiful
and when it must be done in the
shortest possible space OF time.
Perhaps no farm horse works more
than half the time; in fact statistics
gathered by the Minnesota Expert
ment Station from 26 farms in that
state during the last four year show
sofa for the farm horse is only three
hours. Do you doubt this? We
should if there were any room for
| doubt, but there isn't. The statis-
| tics we refer to are not the result of
guess work, but the result obtained
| by men who were sent out by the ex-
| pertinent station to keep track Of the
cost Of crop production, of feeding
live stock, and in fact to keep a rec
ord Of all work on certain number
of farms. Three men have been at
work during the past four years, each
in keeping complete record of the
cost of production on eight farms To-
Gated in three different parts of the
State-in the southeastern, the south
western, and the northwestern part
of Minnesota. These records we're
kept by making daily visits to the
farms mentioned, and recording every
cost item, and hence the value of
these figures.
In ascertaining the cost of produc-
| ing different crops, one problem that
had to be settled was method of
charging to each field or to each crop
the cost of horse labor. 1t was not
sufficient merely to divide the cost OF
keeping a horse by the number OF
! days in the year land thus arrive at
the cost of horse labor per day, for
the reason that farm horses are very
often idle. The cost per hour of each
year was obtained at the end Of each
year by adding the total number OF
hours each horse worked during the
year, and then dividing the cost OF
keep by the total number hours of la
bor. After this figure had been de-
termined the number of hours OF
horse labor put on the different crops
were readily given cash value.
AS d IcSulU vi UlllS DO
stated above, it was found that the
horses on those 26 farms worked on
an average only three hours per day.
AS is to be expected, the cost of keep
| varied somewhat. So also did the
number of hours worked. In the cost
of maintaining a horse were included
such items as interest on investment,
horse depreciation, harness deprecia-
tion, shoeing, feed, labor in caring
for the horse, and micellaneous ex-
| pense. Under the latter heading
| we're charged such items as could
not be charged under any other head
| ings mentioned. The average main
tenance cost on the eight farms in
southeastern Minnesota was $9O.4O;
in the southwestern part of the state
| it was $S7; and in the northwestern
part of the state it was $75.O7. The
number of working hours per horse
part of the state the horses worked
S77 hours, and in the northwestern
part of the state 1,O25 hours. This is
the reverse Of what one would have
expected to. find since dairying is the
leading industry in the southeastern
part of the state, while wheat grow
ing is the main business in the north.
western part OF the state, and is
generally considered that in diversi
fed farming, which goes with dairy
ing, morse power can be more econom
ically utilized than in sections where
exclusive grain farming is the rule.
The cost of horse labor varied from
9.25 cents per hour in the southeast
ern part of the state to 1872 cents pei
hour in the northwestern part Of the
state, while in the southwestern por.
tion it was S.36 cents, and the aver
age cost in those three sections was
S.3l cents. From the figures giver
above it is estimated that the aver
age cost of keeping horse one yea
was approximately $50. This is be
low rather than above what it should
be, for the reason that the item O.
depreciation during the four year!
while these cost figures were obtained