612 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



horses, runs the harvester in the field; four men with teams haul the 

 corn to the silo; one man feeds and one spreads the corn in the silo. 

 Low trucks or wagons with racks suspended below the axles should be 

 used, so that the teamsters can put on their own loads. This requires 

 a crew of seven men, besides the engineer. 



Table 1 gives a comparison of these three methods. 



Table 1. — Number and Aerangement of Men Employed in Filling 

 Silos by Various Methods. 



Kind of Work 



Method 1 Method 2 



Method 3 



Operating binder 



Loading wagons 



Driving teams 



Unloading wagons 



Feeding cutter 



In silo 



Total number of men. 



Number of teams hauling 



1 

 2 



3 on 

 Teamsters 

 1 

 1 



8 or 9 

 3 or 4 



1 



2 



2 (boys) 



1 



1 



1 



1 

 

 4 

 Teamsters 

 1 

 1 



The difference between methods is in the arrangement for loading, 

 hauling and unloadi-ig. When there is a sufficient number of teams the 

 teamsters do their own loading and unloading. When teams are scarce 

 two loaders and one unloader are needed; but boys may drive the teams 

 to and from the field. 



In figuring out the cost of filling the silos were measured and the 

 amounts of silage determined from King's tables. It must be borne in 

 mind that these weights are for cured silage. The actual weights of 

 green corn put in the silos would be from 15 to 2.5 per cent greater than 

 those mentioned. 



The cost of labor varied considerably. In order to compare the different 

 methods a uniform rate of 15 cents an hour was made for men and the 

 same for a team of two horses. Engine hire was rated at $4.50 a day, 

 which includes the engineer. This may be too high in the case of gasoline 

 engines, as they did not require attention all of the time; yet they caused 

 more delays from getting out of order than did the steam engines, which 

 probably offset the difference in attention demanded. 



Twine was rated at 11 1-2 cents a pound, coal at $5 a ton and gasoline 

 • at 13 cents a gallon. No charge was made for wear and tear on 

 machinery or for boarding the help. Nearly every one of these men 

 owned his silage cutter. The others depended on hiring cutters. The 

 charge for an engine, engineer, silage cutter and one man to feed is 

 usually $10 a day. 



Ten hours were considered a day's work. No deductions were made 

 for delays unless the helpers were set at some other work. The average 

 quantity of silage cut daily by each man was computed by dividing the 

 number of tons of silage cut by the total hours worked and multiplying the 

 result by ten. 



