52 



READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



DAYS' WORK NECESSARY TO PRODUCE 

 A. By Hand Methods 



Barley . . 



Corn . . 



Cotton . . 



Hay . . . 



Oats . . 



Potatoes . 



Rice . . 



Rye . . . 



Wheat . . 

 Total 



Crop of 



1896 

 1894 

 1895 

 1895 

 1893 

 1895 

 1896 

 1895 



Methods of 



1829-1830 



1855 



1841 



1850 



1830 



1866 



1870 



1847-1848 



1829-1830 



Days' Work 



14,771.515 



117,487,098 



80,108,771 



99.257.257 



105,810,334 



14,715,501 



396,687 



6,854,942 



130,62^,927 



570,024,032 



B. By Machine Methods 



The total amount of man-labor power saved by the use of machin- 

 ery in the production of these nine crops was 450,368,992 days' 

 work or 79 per cent of the amount of work which would have 

 been required to produce those same crops by the earlier hand meth- 

 ods. In other words, the quantity of labor now requisite for the pro- 

 duction of a given quantity of these nine crops is, on the average, 

 only 21 per cent, or a little over one fifth of the quantity which 

 would be requisite under the former hand methods of production.^ 



1 See also Edward Atkinson, Distribution of Products, pp. 14-15, 287. 



