2 BULLETIN" 1000, U. S. DEPABTMEjSTT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



more permajient basis for comparative determinations than mere 

 mon3y costs. For this reason the quantity requirements have come 

 to be regarded as fundamental in any discussion of farm management 

 problems. 



In this bulletin all of the available crop requirement data assem- 

 bled by the United States Department of Agriculture are sum- 

 marized. In bringing these data together the Office of Farm Man- 

 agement and Farm Economics has based its findings upon two 

 sources of information: First, enterprise survey records covering the 

 more important farm crops which have been obtained during the 

 past ten years; second, a large number of detailed farm accounting 

 records which have been assembled in cooperation with several 

 agricultural experiment stations. Labor and material requirements 

 per acre are reported in this bulletin for the following crops: 



Corn, corn silage, cotton, wheat, oats, barley, rye, grain sorghums, 

 field beans, potatoes, sugar beets, tobacco, apples, and hay, and a few 

 miscellaneous field crops. 



In each instance the results have been compiled and averaged by 

 districts. In obtaining the original records from which the accom- 

 panying tables have been prepared, representative areas or regions 

 were selected for the studies. Thus the figures which are given for 

 each of these regions are directly applicable to many other districts 

 where agricultural conditions are similar. 



The data given in the tables may be used in two ways. In the 

 first place, by applying current prices for labor, seed, fertilizer, and 

 other materials to the quantity requirements, the cost of producing 

 a crop may be approximately calculated. The farmer who is con- 

 ducting his work in a businesslike way will frequently desire to make 

 estimates of this character. If a crop which he has used extensively 

 hi the past does not promise well, on account of an unfavorable 

 market outlook, a few calculations will enable him to estimate 

 probable results with the new combinations which appear to be 

 practicable. 



In the second place, quantity requirements may be applied in 

 readjusting the enterprises of the farm as a whole. With this infor- 

 mation available, the operator can obtain a clear idea of his labor 

 requirements at different seasons, and peak loads may be avoided by 

 developing the farm plan in such a manner as to distribute the 

 man labor and horse labor uniformly. From a farm organization 

 standpoint, therefore, these basic factors have proved to be exceed- 

 ingly valuable. 



Each type of farming develops practices which influence the 

 quantity of man and horse labor that may be required in growing 

 and marketing a given product. While field practice in any given 

 district has a tendency to be quite uniform, and while the average 



