A STUDY IN THE COST OF PRODUCING MILK. 



11 



The lowest labor requirement per cow is on the Pennsylvania farm, 

 where the milk is handled quite efficiently and delivered at a near-by 

 railroad station. The fact that the cows receive less individual 

 attention and on the average produce less may have some influence 

 in making the labor requirement lower. The use of a milking 

 machine during 1913 made the man-labor requirement 38 hours per 

 cow less than for 1912. The actual time of milking was reduced 

 about one-half. The horse labor, mostly used in delivering milk, 

 remained about the same each year. With the exception of the 

 Pennsylvania farm, the average man-labor requirement per cow, 

 exclusive of marketing, on each of the farms for all years is approxi- 

 mately 200 hours. This is equivalent to an average of 33 minutes 

 per cow per day, 365 days in the year. 



The hauling of milk to market is a daily operation on each of the 

 farms. The hours of labor required per cow for this work varies 

 with distance from market, size of the herd, and condition of the 

 road. On the Pennsylvania farm it required 13.4 hours of man labor 

 for this work as compared to 40.3 hours on the North Carolina farm, 

 where less milk was hauled about four times as far. On the Wisconsin 

 farm, 1 mile from the creamery, it averaged 16 hours per cow. 



It is of interest to compare the man-labor requirement on the 

 North Carolina farm in 1914 with other years. For nine months of 

 this year the milk was retailed in the same city where it had previously 

 been sold in bulk to a dealer. The actual hours of man labor required 

 at the farm increased from an average of 222 hours per cow to 358 

 hours. This increase of 136 hours represents mainly the increased 

 labor for extra handling and bottling the milk and caring for equip- 

 ment put in use when the change was made to selling at retail. The 

 time spent in marketing increased from 40 hours to 149 hours per 

 cow. The horse-labor requirements increased in like proportion. 



Table VIII gives the wage rates per hour for man and horse labor 

 that were used in charging each herd for labor. The average rate 

 per hour of man labor varied from 9 cents on the North Carolina 

 farm, where the wages paid hired labor were low (about $20 per 

 month with board and lodging), to nearly 14 cents on the Wisconsin 

 farm, where more efficient men were paid wages that averaged about 

 $32, mth board and lodging. 



Table VIII.— Cosi per hour of man and of horse labor on the four farms. 



Year. 



Wisconsin 



farm— rate per 



hour. 



Michigan 



farm— rate per 



hour. 



Pennsylvania 



farm — rate per 



hour. 



North Carolina 



farm — rate per 



hour. 





Man. 



horse. 



Man.. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



1909 



Cents. 

 13.3 

 14.2 

 13.6 

 13.6 



Cents. 



10.0 



8.9 



7.9 



7.9 



Cents. 

 12 

 12 

 12 

 12 



Cents. 

 8 

 8 

 8 

 8 



Cents. 



Cents. 



Cents. 



Cents. 



1910 











1911 







9.1 

 9.0 

 10.4 



7 7 



1912 



12.9 

 13.9 



11.8 

 8.8 



8 



1913 



8 















