340 FARM MANAGEMENT 



Some farmers say that they work 16 hours a day, when 

 they mean that they are out of bed 16 hours. They fail 

 to distinguish between work and meal time, but there are 

 some farmers who do work as much as 14 hours a day in 

 the summer. 



On a number of farms in Minnesota, it was found that 

 the average in a region where considerable dairying was 

 done was 8.6 hours, and in a region largely devoted to 

 grain farming, 7.4 hours. The corresponding hours of 

 Sunday work were 3.4 and 2.2 hours. 1 The averages were 

 for 313 days. If holidays and other days off were counted 

 out, the average would be higher. These averages do not 

 give all the facts. The days in summer were long, and on 

 many days in winter very little was done. 



Another side of the question is the necessity of caring 

 for live-stock. Stock requires attention early in the 

 morning and again at night. A ten- or eleven-hour day 

 is long enough to give this attention. 



A ten-hour day of actual work is long enough for a 

 farmer except in harvest, threshing, and other times 

 of unusual pressure. Of course, no set time can be 

 made on a farm, because the weather, the stock, or other 

 circumstances may make it necessary to work very long 

 days at any time. The farm crops and property must be 

 cared for. But for normal occasions, when there is no 

 great pressure of work, ten hours is a good standard to set. 

 When dealing with ignorant labor, as the negro or Mexi- 

 can, the common rule is to work from sun to sun. This is a 

 natural day, particularly where men do not carry watches. 



216. Management of men. The most satisfactory 

 farm hand is the son of a neighboring farmer. Such men 

 know how to work and are more likely to be interested, as 



1 Minnesota, Bulletin 97, p. 11. 



