859] Machinery and Labor 6 1 



data are not what they appear to be a showing of 

 hand method as compared wifh machine method, but 

 rather only a showing of production by hand method at 

 different dates. 



It will be worth our while to inquire in what way 

 the introduction of machine power has affected the 

 rates of wages for the work of producing these different 

 crops. Turning first to a consideration of wages paid 

 in the production of five crops, now largely produced 

 by machine power, we collect the following data : 



Unit ~ . Average daily wages 



Number Lr P Hand Machine 



3 Barley $.56 $2.21 



8 Corn 78 1.53 



II Hay 86 i.n 



13 Oats 56 1.50 



27 Wheat 57 2.47 



An average of averages gives 66 cents for the hand 

 methods and $1.76 for the machine method, an in- 

 crease of 1 66 per cent. 



A similar showing for the five crops in which there 

 appears to have been little or no change in the 

 methods of production, is as follows : 



Unit r* Average daily wages 



Numbed rop Hand Machine 



2 Apple trees $1.56 $1.28 



16 Potatoes i.oo i.oo 



19 Strawberries 1.30 1.38 



21 Sweet potatoes 76 .62 



24 Tomatoes 93 .91 



An average of averages gives $1.11 as the average 

 daily wage in the time of hand methods and $1.04 as 

 the average daily wage in the time of machine 

 methods, a decrease of 6.7 per cent. 



1 See footnote I p. 21. 



