184 AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING 



the thirteenth annual report of the Department of Labor it 

 is stated that the amount of labor required to produce a 

 bushel of wheat by hand methods was 3 hours and 3 minutes, 

 and by machine methods this has been reduced to ten min- 

 utes. In the 1899 Yearbook of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture it is reported that the average time of labor required to 

 cut and cure a ton of hay has been reduced from 1 1 hours to 

 1 hour and 39 minutes. 



Quality of Products. The quality of farm products has 

 been materially influenced by the introduction of farm 

 machinery which enables the farmer to harvest his crop at 

 the best time. For instance, when hand methods prevailed 

 it was customary to begin the harvesting of small grain 

 before it was properly ripened, and the harvesting was con- 

 tinued past the time the grain was in the best condition, 

 resulting in shrunken and damaged grain. The crops are 

 generally cleaner and more uniform now than under the 

 methods prevailing three quarters of a century ago. It 

 would be difficult now to induce people to eat bread made 

 from wheat threshed by the treading of animals. 



Income of Farm Workers. A study of the Census 

 report of the income of farm workers in the different states 

 and the average investment in farm machinery indicates 

 that the income varies almost directly with the amount of 

 machinery. 1 The following table contains only the extreme 

 cases given in the report. 



G. F. Warren and K. C. Livermore, of Cornell University, 

 in reporting an agricultural survey made in Tompkins 

 County, New York State, say, "In each of the groups [refer- 

 ring to size of farms] the farmer's labor income is almost the 

 same as the value of his machinery." These observations 



i S. A. Knapp, of the United States Department of Agriculture, has reported 

 this data from the census report, in Circular 21, Bureau of Plant Industry. 



