26 



N. H. Agricuitural Experiment Station 



[Sta. Bull. 273 



Table 21. Size of cutter, hows of labor filling, and horse power used in 



filling silo. 



The rapidity with which silage is put into the silo increases with 

 size of cutter up to 13 inches. Beyond that point there appear to be 

 some inefficiencies on the farms studied ; either the cutter was too large 

 for the crew, or the large crews, to insure against stoppage of equip- 

 ment because of lack of help, got in each other's way and used more 

 labor per ton of silage. (Table 22) 



Table 22. Size of creiv and efficiency of labor. 



In all of these operations, however, it was possible to save 5 hours, 

 per acre cutting. 2 hours per acre hauling, and 1 hour per acre filling — 

 a total of 7.4 hours per acre, or .7 hour per ton. when corn was cut 

 with a harvester and bound as compared with hand cutting. With an 

 average tonnage per farm of 87, this means a saving of 60 hours per 

 farm, or it would be equivalent to the time required to raise an acre of 

 silage corn. 



Size of crew and labor requirements for silage harvest : 



The small crew, operating usually with its own machine, is most 

 efficient. (Table 20) As the size of crew is increased, the speed at 

 wiiich the corn is handled is reduced. The time required per acre 

 varies from 34.1 hours per acre and 3.0 hours per ton for the 2-3 man 

 crew to 45.5 hours per acre and 3.7 hours per ton for the 8-f-man crew. 

 The smaller crews rarely had a man in the silo or in the field. In the 

 larger crews, it was more common to have a man, sometimes two, in 

 the silo and one or more in the field to help the teamsters load. 



