AMERICAN FARMING STATISTICS.
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CCORDING to statistics compiled by the Bixreati of Census U.S.A. Department of Commerce, there were 131,551 farnis using motor lorries on January let, 1920. At that time Pennsylvania led the field with 9,372 vehicles, the other States in order being New York with 9,259, Iowa with 8,910, Ohio with 7,319, Nebraska with 6,548, California with 6,416, and Illinois with 6,154. The census shows that one farm out of every 28 owned 4 tractor on January let, 1920, and on that -date there were 246,139 tractors in use on 229,334 farms, whilst more tractors were in use in Illinois than in any other State. Statistics show that 23,102 tractors were in use in that State, other States in order being Iowa with 20,270 tractors, Kansas 17,177, Minne
sota 15,503, California 13,852, North Dakota 13,006, South Dakota 12,939, and Nebraska 11,106.
These eight States have in use, according to the census, more than onehalf of all the tractors in use on farms in the United States. For the country as a whole, there were 38.2 tractors for every 1.000 farms in 1920, and for the eight States mentioned, taken as a whole, 106,8 tractors for every 1,000 farms The States with the highest percentage of all farms reporting tractors for 1920 were as follow :—South Dakota, 16.3 per cent. ; North Dakota, 15.2 per cent. ; Montana, 12 per cent. ; California, 10.3 per cent. ; Kansas, 9.8 per cent. ; Illinois, 9.3 per cent. ; Iowa, 9.1 per cent.
When examining these figures it should be borne in mind that they were taken before January 1st, 1920, and that, as more than 18 months have elapsed since their compilation, the data -cannot be considered as indicative of present conditions., for active sales campaigns have been conducted amongst agriculturists, with the result that thousands of machines have been added to the farm equipment which was in use in 1920. Moreover, the figures cannot be regarded as comprehensive, becauSe: they concern only 30.7 per cent, of all farms. and, as reports have not been received from an impressive majority of agriculturists, the figures cannot be used in any accurate determination of motor vehicle sales.