8 12 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



accomplished. The difficulty is increased by the irregularity of the 

 seasons. In any case, the best that can be done is to make plans 

 that are suited to a normal season and adjust them from time to 

 time as the exigencies of the weather may require. 



In order to formulate a cropping system that will give a satis- 

 factory distribution of labor during the season when field work is 

 practicable, a wide acquaintance with crops and a knowledge of the 

 dates of planting, tilling, harvesting, and all other operations con- 

 nected with each crop are required. One must also know the amount 

 of labor required for each .of these operations, the number of men 

 that must work together to accomplish the work economically, as 

 well as the average percentage of days available for field work at 

 different seasons of the year. If the work schedule is to include the 

 care of live stock it is also necessary to know the amount of labor 

 required for the various kinds of work as well as the seasons at which 

 this labor must be performed. 



Occasionally one finds a farmer who has followed a system of 

 farming long enough and has observed with sufficient care to enable 

 him to know in advance just how much labor will be required during 

 every part of the coming season. It is very seldom, however, that 

 such a farmer has succeeded in filling in all the gaps during the 

 season, so that on the vast majority of farms there are times when 

 the need of labor is greater than the supply, while at other times 

 little or nothing is to be done except the daily chores. So many 

 unforeseen accidents interrupt the regular farm work, often bringing 

 unexpected demands for time and labor, that it would not be possible 

 to follow blindly any work schedule outlined in advance. At the 

 same time it is possible to outline a plan that will serve well as a guide 

 in the management of the farm. A little attention to this subject 

 serves to show that the area which a given force can farm when the 

 work is thoroughly systemized is very much greater than is generally 

 supposed. 



258. MAKING LABOR GO AS FAR AS POSSIBLE 1 

 BY J. A. DRAKE 



Labor in itself constitutes one of the hardest problems encountered 

 on the average farm. Not only is this now true, but the situation 

 seems to be growing more serious each year. The cost of extra labor 



1 Adapted from Farmers' Bulletin 614, United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, pp. 1-3. 



