112 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 275 



In silo lillinir, the corn is cut by iiand and liandled loose. The eiRciency 

 in the amount of labor used both in haying and in silo filling is accomplished 

 by carefully i)lanning the work to avoid waste efifort and lost motion all along 

 the line. The use of low rack wagons and a systematic metliod of loading 

 saves much of the time on both of these crojis. 



PackiiKj and Oradincf Apples. — Mr. C grades and packs most of his apples 

 in standard bushel boxes. Paper wraps are used for part of the crop. His 

 large mechanical grader not only saves labor but makes it possible to do a 

 better job than would otherwise be the case. On one occasion in 1929 a crew 

 of five men graded, wrapped, packed, and boxed 600 boxes of A grade Bald- 

 wins and 300 boxes of B grade in 135 man hours. This time was spread out 

 over a week and mixed in with some other work so that full efficiency was not 

 attained. Probably this machine about doubles the speed of packing for the 

 same grade of work. Other apple growers may grade just as rapidly by hand 

 but they do not put up the same quality of pack. 



Mr. C has carefully studied the whole process of packing apples, for the 

 purpose of improving methods. Some of his practices are: 



1. The grader is set up for convenience in filling with aj^j^les, and with re- 

 gard to the natural and artificial lighting. 



2. The box stand, which holds the box into which each man packs apples, 

 is tilted and adjusted for elevation to suit the height and arm length 

 of each individual. The adjustment is readily changed to tit different 

 workers. This item is particularly important in reducing fatigue. 



3. The process of wrapping each apple has been reduced to a few simple 

 motions and standardized for each person. This increases packing speed 

 and reduces fatigue. 



4. In nailing box tops, the box is held in a homemade clamp or press, 

 operated by a foot lever. The press holds the top of the box tightly 

 in place and the nailer has both hands free. The device is simpler and 

 more effective than many commercial devices for this purpose. 



5. Empty boxes are conveniently placed within reach and the packed boxes 

 are stacked with reference to loading out. 



All of these factors tend both to speed w^ the rate of packing and to re- 

 duce the fatigue. At the end of the day the men are much less tired than 

 they would be under the usual working conditions. 



Suitnnarif of Labor Efficiency 



AVithout going into more detail, the preceding discussion shows something 

 of the methods followed by Mr. C in j)lanning the seasonal distribution of 

 labor and in increasing the efficiency with which daily tasks and special jobs 

 are done. The net result has been the accom})lishment of a larger volume of 

 business per man than otherwise would have been the case. 



Some (if these economies can be realized equally well on a smaller farm, 

 while otliers which require more investment in machinery are less easily at- 

 tained. Generally speaking, lalxir efficiency affects farm profits more on the 

 larger farm bccaiise it can more fretjuently be translated into dollars-and- 

 cents saving of hired labor. 



