Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-05-09
EXPENSIVE TO FEED
Horse of Today Figures in High
Cost of Living.
Maintaining Of a Stable Given In De
tail-Many Other Items Besides
Feed and Interest en- Invest
He1t Must Be Fiqured.

The ordinary draft horse. az a rule
should be fed lG quarts of oats day
and with oats at 49, cents per bushel
the cost Of the oats per horse per day
is - cents and S7.20 per month OF 30
days. The usual amount of hay eaten
per horse is 20 pounds per day. and
with hay at $t.td per 100 the cost per
day is - cents and $3.50 per month
One horse Will use approximately 100
pounds of straw per week for bedding
and with good straw at 1875 per 100
the cost per day is IA cents and ST 20
per month. \ stable housing 20 horses
viii require the services of two hos
tiers. who are paid a. the rate OF s.
per day for seven-day week. This
would bring the unit OF cost for hos
tlers per horse per day to 20 cents or
So per month. The average cost of
shoeiug a draft horse is 10 cents per
day, or 81 per month. Like any other
animals. horses sometimes become
sick and the average charge per year
for veterinary service. taken from
bills Of five consecutive years. amounts
10 $50, the average number of horses
kept during this period still remain
ing at 20
At this rate the unit cost per horse
% cents per month. The unit charge
per horse for the rent OF its stall to-
gether with the proportiOnate part of
space used for feed, bedding. manure.
harness and office. together with in
surance thereon. amounts TO s. per
month. At this rate the unit charge
per horse per day is Il cents The
water tax charged for the water aCtu-
ally used per horse for drinking pur-
poses and for washing down the stalls
amounts to 81 per month for 20 horses
or 10 cents per horse per month, or 0.3
cents per day. The depreciation OF
the horse is quite an item. An ordi-
nary, physically perfect draft horse,
when bought at the age Of from to
years, is worth in the neighborhOod OF
$500, depending on the condition OF
the market at the time of the pur-
chase. Such a horse. when properly
cared for. has an average useful life
of not more than five years. although
some SLch horses have been in actual
serviC. for from 10 to - years. Five
years is a conservative estimate.
At this rate the depreciation is $50
per year. and the interest on the in
vestment figured at per cent would
amount TO $3.50. Reducing these fig
ures to daily and monthly units We
have the depreciation per horse per
day at Il cents per day or s. per
month. The interest on the invest
ment is per cent per horse per day
and 30 cents per month. Then there
is the harness. A set of harness for
team is worth in the neighborhood Of
s15 and has a life of not over five
years With this data the deprecia-
ton OF the harness per horse per day
is cents and 90 cents per month.
while the interest on the investment is
OIL cent and cents for the respective
units. The above mentioned factors
in the makeup of the final unit cost
figures cover all the items with the
possible exception of superintendent.
which, however, is not generally
against the maintenance of
the horse. but to the particular job on
which the horse may be working.