Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-02-24
CANNOT SEE
HORSELESS AGE
CRy Associated Pressl

- - ''+'N
tractor concerns and other advO-
Gates OF power farming are pre-
dieting the arrival OF the day
when ..'the horse will vanish and
be at rest" members OF the Ken
lucky Horse Breeders AsSocia-
ton are showing considerable
confidence in the belief that old
Dobbin need have little worry
about bis feed being cut off and
himself turned ont into the road
TO make way for an iron mule. "
According TO statement made
here today by their secretary W.
:. Anderson. members of the as
sociation see the next few years.
with their accompanying de
mands for economy in farm pro-
duction. as an opportunity for the
horse to prove his worth as
farm power unit for all times To
come.
In calling attention to the pre-
d;ction to a horselesS age. Mr..
Anderson. who is a well known
specialist on horse feeding and
and breeding at the Kentucky Ag
ricultural Experiment Station,
said. The statements made that
in 1921 the trucks on the farms
of the United States numbered
l34. 100 while the number OF trac-
tors was 246.139. a compared To-
the number OF horses which was
100000. Arthur Brisbane. in
making the statement adds,
When the farmer what the trac-
tor can do and the government
interests in careful tests and CO.
operative use OF farm machinery.
the horse will vanish and be at
rest.
In commenting on the state
ment. the association secretary
continued. There are more than
100000 farms in the United
states with about one tractor for
each 3 FARMS. IN Kentucky there
100000 farms md less than 2.50Q
tractors lew or no tractors
were bou2i,l L:-i year in the state
and few will be bought this year.
"The tractors did help out i'll
the rush of production and scar
city OF labor during the war but
since the prime consideration in
farm production now is economy.
even the tractors already ON the
farms are doing less work while
the old horse and mule are doing
more"
The increasing use which far
merS are making OF horses and
mules in hauling their tobacco To
Central Kentucky markets this
year is seen by Mr.. Anderson as
further proof that the horse will
never be replaced on the farm.
For the past two years. much
OF the tobacco i'll Central Ken
lucky was hauled TO the market
on trucks but this year. the farm
horses and mules are bringing in
the crop" he continued. BY
means OF wagons and horses. to-
bacco can be marketed for an ex-
penditure of little or no ready
cash whereas the truck man &C.
manded not only cash for his
work. but also an excessive price.
''Aly prediction is that not only
will the horse and mule never be
replaced on the farm but also thai
as farms become smaller. fewer
and fewer farmers will be able to
utilize tractors economically and
will depend upon work stock for
their farming operations.
1T is sheer nonsense to talk
about the tractor replacing work
stock on the farm when a ma
chine that costs something like
81 .000 replaces only two horses
or mules whose value is 500 to !
$50 apiece" Mr.. Anderson said I
in discussing figures obtained BY !
The college farm management de-
Dartment relative to the efficien-
" of horses and tractors. These |
figures show that If farm re-
luires ten horses to perform the
necessary work and a tractor is
brought in. eight horses still will
De required"
3 The sooner that manufactur-
RS OF farm machinery and bust
hess men realize that the tractorl
las limitations. the better it will
)e for business and for far,ningll