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MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 240 



In all studies of this kind a wide range in the amounts of labor and ma- 

 terials used has always been discovered. The tables and charts set forth these 

 differences as found in the four areas in Massachusetts, and the text points 

 out their causes and indicates ways in which labor and materials may be con- 

 served in growing potatoes. 



Labor and Materials Used in the Chesterfield Area.* 



The total hours of man labor per acre used in potato production in 1926 

 on the Chesterfield farms are shown in Table 2 and Figure 3. The man labor 

 varied from 87 to 216 hours per acre. Some of the causes of these variation^ 

 are suggested in Table 3, which shows the labor by operations. There are 

 many factors affecting the amounts of man labor used in growing potatoes in 

 Cliesterfield. Part of these are pointed out in the discussion of the operations 

 which follows. Some farmers are able to perform the operations more quick- 

 ly than others, due to the kind of implement used, the number of times an 

 operation is repeated, the size and slope of fields, and the stoniness of the soil. 



Figure 4. Hours of Man Labor per Acre in Plowing. 



The smaller, stonier fields of Chesterfield take longer 

 to prepare. More tractors are used in the other areas. 



Preparation and Planting. 



The farmers of Chesterfield spend more time plowing than other Massa- 

 chusetts farmers, because their fields are small, hilly, stony, and irregular in 

 shape. Figure 4 shows the hours per acre used in plowing. A man with two 

 horses and a 12-inch walking plow took from 5.3 hours to 14.2 hours to plow 

 an acre. On one farm a man with a Fordson and a 16-inch plow used 3 

 hours to plow an acre; and on another with the same kind of equipment it 

 took 4 hours. 



Hours of horse and tractor work are not eiven. For the most part, they closely 

 Tallel the hours ol man labor. 



parallel 



