40 N. H. Agr. Experiment Station [Bulletin 275 



ing only hay as roughage averaged to require during the year 3.4 

 hours per 1,000 pounds of milk and 14.2 hours per cow to feed hay 

 to the cattle. The labor used ranged from 1.2 hours to 6.7 hours per 

 1,000 pounds of milk and from six to 24 liours per cow. Barn ar- 

 rangement on the farm with 6.7 hours per cow made it necessary to 

 handle the hay several times before feeding it; on the farm with 1.2 

 hours per cow, the hay mow and feed manger were so arranged that 

 very little handling was necessaiy. 



The operation of feeding silage varied from .28 hours to 4.3 hours 

 per 1,000 pounds milk and from 1.3 to 29.7 hours per cow. Those op- 

 erators who had low time requirements per cow used feed carts for 

 carrying ensilage. In most bams by a little rearranging of the stable, 

 a feed cart could be used and considerable walking and time saved. 



The time for roughage feeding as a whole varied from 4.7 to 39.6 

 hours per cow and from .7 to 12.2 hours per 1,000 pounds of milk. 

 The average for all farms was 3.6 hours per 1,000 pounds and 16.4 

 hours per cow. 



Cleaning stable. The time required to clean the stable varied from 

 6 to 50 hours annually per cow. Fourteen farms used less than 15 

 hours per cow, 20 used between 15 and 25 hours, and the remainder 

 more than 25 hours. 



On the 15 fanns where the manure was dropped to the basement the 

 time required to clean the stable tended to be less than where car- 

 riers were used. Cariying manure in a scoop shovel and throwing it 

 out the window accounts for the higher labor requirements on three 

 farms. In some cases scuttles were hard to open or the stable clean- 

 ing operation had to be combined with watering. 



In one instance where the time requirement was low, the operator 

 followed a definite procedure. A long rod with a hook on the end 

 hung at one end of the barn back of the cows, and a special long- 

 handled shovel stood at the other end. Beginning at one end of the 

 stable the operator opened all of the scuttles back of the cows with 

 the long" hook. At the other end of the tie-up he exchanged the hook 

 for the long-handled shovel and returned, shoveling the manure into 

 the basement. He then walked the length of the tie-up using the 

 shovel to close the scuttles, left the shovel in its original position, and 

 returned with the long hook, hanging it in place for the same routine 

 the next time. Thus, by having a special tool designed to do a definite 

 task, and then systematically completing the task requiring the use of 

 that tool, the operator was able to do the work quickly. 



Watering. As a daily chore, watering on 13 fanns required no time 

 as water was available to the cows at their stanchions either in drink- 

 ing cups or by filling the concrete mangers with water. On the other 

 25 farms, the time used in watering varied from 3.2 hours to 23.8 

 hours per cow and from 0.6 to 8 hours per 1,000 pounds of milk. This 

 does not include building fires for water-heating purposes. The in- 

 stallation of inexpensive water-cups can be justified on the basis of 

 time saved on chore work, not to mention the effect on production 

 of continuously available water. 



Chores on individual farms. It was noted that operators who had 

 worked out good methods in several chore operations were using very 



