PLANNINN THE FARM BUSINESS 111 



Efficiency on Particular Jobs 



In addition to planning the seasonal distribution of labor and shifting vari- 

 ous operations to different times, Mr. C has carefully studied the efficiency 

 with which particular tasks are performed with a view to reducing both the 

 time and the fatigue. The following discussion covers some of the more sig- 

 nificant of his results along this hre. 



ReduciiHf Livestock Labor. — By referring to Figure 3 an idea of the rela- 

 tive amount of the labor required by the livestock may be gained. The great- 

 er part of this consists of routine daily chores which are much the same 

 tliroughout the year. Although Mr. C's barn is rather old, with only a fair 

 arrangement, he has been able to plan a schedule for his chores which permits 

 ium to care for the cows in about two-thirds the time used by many dairy- 

 men. He spends approximately 100 hours per cow annually as compared 

 with a common standard of about 150 hours. 



He has built a grain cluite which brings tlie grain from an upstairs grain 

 room down close to the cows, and a hay chute which makes tlie feeding of 

 the hay nuich easier. In feeding silage, the silage cart is backed up to the 

 silo door so that when the silage is thrown out it loads the cart. With the 

 cart it takes about 24 minutes daily to feed silage twice, while one of the 

 neighboring dairymen takes about 36 minutes daily in feeding silage to the 

 same number of head with a bushel basket. When the milk room was built, 

 it was placed at one end of the barn, as near to the milk cows as possible and 

 was ])lanned for convenience in handling the milk and washing tlie milk 

 utensils. 



In remodelling the barn a few years ago Mr. C arranged to pipe water to 

 a water trough inside the horse stable. It takes only about half as long to 

 care for the horses now as it did formerly when they had to be led outside 

 the barn or water carried in to them. Now he simply turns the horses loose 

 inside the stable and while they are drinking puts in the hay and bedding 

 and cleans out the stable. The whole operation takes only six or seven minutes 

 each time. 



Efficiency in Haymaking and Silo Filling. — The following table tells its own 

 story concerning Mr. C's efficiency in organizing haying and silo-filling labor. 

 The only special labor-saving machinery is a power hay hoist at the barn for 

 use in unloading. Only the ordinary haying tools — mower, dump rake, and 

 liand forks — were used in the field. 



Table 15. — Comparison of Hay axd Silo-filling Labor on Farm C and 

 OTHER Massachusetts Farms. 



Other 



Farm C ]\Iass. Farms* 

 Hay 



Man hours per acre 13.8 16.7 



Man hours per ton 5.3 8.4 



Silage 



Man hours per acre 13.3 30.5 



Man hours per ton 1.2 2.9 



* Records in 1924 from 54 Massachusetts farms for hay and 32 farms 

 for silage, using about the same kind of equipment as on Farm C. 



