44 BULLETIN 917, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



cost applicable to a given crop must be determined by prorating the 

 entire charge among the various enterprises involved. 



MAN AND HORSE LABOR RATES. 



In figuring the labor cost of producing farm crops a uniform rate 

 per hour for man labor has been used throughout the crop season. 

 In most sections it is customary to pay higher wages for harvesting. 

 The average rate per hour during the entire crop year is a little low 

 for some operations, but high for others. 



Horse labor is also figured at a uniform rate per hour for the entire 

 crop year. The average rates for man and horse labor were used in 

 these three districts, being 30 cents per hour for a man and 20 cents 

 for a horse. 



•^#*5 ! > Kaf?-' ' 



Fig. 41.— Hauling wheat to market. 

 LABOR. 



Labor is by far the most important factor in the production of 

 farm crops in the districts studied. Not only is the variation in the 

 cost of production to a large extent dependent on the relative labor 

 requirement, but the whole farming system is planned from a knowl- 

 edge of the distribution of labor over the cropping season. The 

 acreage of cultivated crops is limited by the supply of labor to take 

 care of it during the busy periods. It is of interest to compare the 

 labor necessary to grow the various farm crops in the regions studied. 



Table III shows the hours of labor required per acre to produce 

 farm crops in the three sugar-beet districts of Colorado considered 

 in this bulletin. 



There are usually three classes of man labor, viz, (1) work per- 

 formed by the operator, (2) work done by hired labor and paid for either 

 by the month or by the day, and (3) work performed by hired labor at a 

 contract rate, such as handwork on sugar beets and picking potatoes. 

 In computing the cost of production the labor cost of the third class 

 mentioned is treated as a cash item, while the labor cost of the first 



