4 BULLETIN 641, 17. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



owner (though the latter, of course, is also a manager), the results 

 obtained show the average labor requirements for each operation. 

 Horse labor is fixed at 13 cents an hour. 



LABOR CHARGES FOR DIFFERENT OPERATIONS. 



SEEDING. 



On all the farms studied it is customary either to sow timothy in 

 the fall on wheat with clover following in the spring or to sow both 

 in the spring with oats, using the grain drill. There is no charge for 

 horse labor used, for when seeding is not done by the drill with grain 

 it is done by hand, either broadcast or by the use of a mechanical 

 seeder, and the seed is sufficiently covered by the spring thaw. 



In the New York area wheelbarrow seeders are used on 17 out of 

 the 52 farms and "hand" seeders on 13 farms. The other 22 farms 

 sow grass seed and clover in the grain drill with oats. In Pennsyl- 

 vania 11 farms use hand seeders and the rest seed broadcast by hand. 

 (See Table IV.) 



About the same amount of work can be done per day with each 

 method of hand seeding, the average being 16.80 acres for the New 

 York farms and 15.50 acres for the Pennsylvania farms. A man can 

 seed by hand between 1| and If acres per hour. The cost of labor 

 for seeding, spread over the life of the meadow, is 2 cents per ton 

 per year in each State. There is a slight variation in the average life 

 of the meadows. 



Table IV. — Cost of hand seeding. 



Item. 



52 farms 

 Steuben 

 County, 

 N. Y. 



37 farms in 



Washington 



County, 



Number seeding by hand 



Average life of meadow, including years used for pasture (years). 

 Seeded by hand (acres) 



Tons produced 



Hours of man labor: 



Per day 



Per acre 



Per ton 



Amount seeded: 



Per day (acres) I (25 



Per hour (acres) 



Cost of man labor (at 20 cents per hour): 



Per day 



Per acre 



Per hour 



Cost per year during life of meadow and pasture: 



Per acre 



Per ton 



30 



3.66 



1,411 



2,116 



9.43 

 .561 



.374 



16.80 



20 tons) 



1.76 



67 tons) 



SI. 88 

 .122 

 .075 



.030 



.020 



37 

 4.10 

 1,411 

 2,201 



10.0 

 .643 

 .412 



15.54 



(24.24 tons) 



1.55 



(2.42 tons) 



$2.00 

 .128 



.031 

 .02d 



AMOUNT OF SEED GROWN. 



The New York farmers visited sow 2.23 pounds less of timothy 

 and 0.62 pound more of clover seed per acre than do the Penn- 

 sylvania farmers. The initial cost of seed is practically the same in 



