Evening star., 1926-08-21
b|G-TEAM FARMS
INCREASE IN WEST
Practice on Pacific Coast
Has Begun to Extend
East of Rockies.

Twelve to twenty horse teams are
coming rapidly into use for plowing
seeding and harvesting in Montana
and other dry farming" areas of the
United States where land is plentiful,
thus increasing the production per
man, says the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.
Equalized bitches and simple har-
ness have facilitated the handling Of
large teams. This fact, coupled with
the absolute necessity Of holding labor
costs down in an area where wages
are high and average crop yields per
acre low, has prompted thousands of
farmers to double up their power
resources by using bigger teams. They
have been impressed by the way in
which the railroads, with big engines.
can handle long strings OF cars as
easily as small engines formerly han
died short ones with the same sized
crews. The same principle, they have
found, can be applied in large-scale
farming.
Low Cost Required.
Where low or medium yields per
acre are to be expected, farmers must
seed large acreage and do the work
at low cost If they are to make a
L. y
Western farms by the use Of mechan-
ical power In some localities. how
ever, animal power is more practl-
cable, particularly where crop rota
tions involve large production of
forage.
Several Northwestern States have
been encouraging the use of larger
teams for number of years. Those
farmers who have followed the advice
and the number is increasing-are
unanimous that the system makes for
greater efficiency. Larger teams are
recommended throughout the wheat
States, and even in the corn belt,
where improved equipment for cult
waiting with big teams is coming into
favor
Big teams came into use in the
West in the pre-railroad days. They
were first used for freighting as a
means of economizing labor which
was being attracted into more profit
able activities. 1t was in California
Oregon and Washington, however
that the big team first came into
general use in agriculture. The prac'
tice did not spread east of the Rocky
Mountains TO any great extent until
compa ratively recently. Nearly all
the wheat farms in eastern Washing
ton and Oregon are big-team farms.
In Montana. in spite of the necessity
for large scale operations, much farm
ing is still done by methods brought
from farther East.
Horses Sometimes Cheaper.
One reason why the tractor is not
everywhere displacing the big team
is that under certain conditions horses
are probably cheaper. Where 1eed is
home grown and raised without much
cash outlay the use of horses is often
preferable. Horses can be turned out
to forage for their feed when they
are not working. Some farmers
moreover, prefer horses to the tractor
for Summer fallowing, because the
tractor packs plowed land. Farmers
tilling volcanic ash soils believe, too
that the life of the tractor on Sucf
soils is greatly reduced because there
Is so much dust.
Conservatism is perhaps the chief
drawback to the spread of the big
team idea. Experience has shown
that there are no practical objections
to it on large farms. One man car
as easily handle IL horses and four
bottom plow as he can handle SIN
horses and a two. bottom plow or two
horses and a. sulky plow. Persons not
familiar with the handling of big
teams sometimes imagine at first that
Harvesting and hitching may present
too many complications. Improved
methods now in use have made the
big team a time-saver and not time
waster in these respects. Devices
have been developed whereby one mar
can harness a team of 20 horses anc
take them out of a barn, water them
and hook them up to plows or drills
without difficulty. Handy watering
and feeding devices make 1t unneces
sary to unhitch the team for moor
feeding. One great advantage of the
big team is that, besides ecOnomizine
labor, it enables the farmer to use the
highest grade Of hired labor and pay
we'll for it.