12 



BULLETIN 919, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Upkeep and repairs to fences were largely an approximation. 

 They were determined by asking the farmers the value and life of 

 posts, wire, etc., and the labor required to build and keep the fences 

 in repair. From these data the annual cost was computed. 



Cutting thistles and weeds is a necessary operation on most of the 

 pastures; where this was the case the cost for such was included in 

 the pasture charge. A seeding charge was allowed where the pasture 

 takes a regular place in the crop rotation, for in this way the pasture 

 derives some of the benefit from the seeding for meadow. 



The annual pasture rent per cow amounted to 1.1 acres, or $23.04. 



LABOR. 



The average labor rate per hour was obtained by dividing the wages 

 per month, plus such extra considerations as board, house rent, milk, 

 and fuel, by the total number of hours available for work. 



The hours available for work during the month were determined 

 on the monthly visit to each farm. The times work began in the 

 morning and when it ceased in the evening were noted, and from the 

 period of work was subtracted the time out for meals and rest. The 

 hours per day thus obtained were multiplied by the number of work- 

 ing days in that month, to which were added the hours of work 

 necessary on Sundays. 



Table 6. — Per cent of labor performed and hours per 100 pounds of milk pro- 

 duced for each class of help. 





Winter. 



Summer. 



Class of labor. 



Distribution of work per- 

 formed. 



Labor 

 per 100 

 pounds 

 of milk. 



Distribution of work per- 

 formed. 



Labor 

 per 100 

 pounds 

 of milk. 





1917-18 [ 1919-20 



Average. 



Average. 



1917-18 



1919 



Average. 



Average. 





Per cent. Per cent. 

 27.5 ! 23.8 

 62.4 j 66.1 



Per cent. 

 25.6 

 64.2 



Hours. 

 0.48 

 1.20 



Per cent. 

 26.7 

 60.3 



Per cent. 

 27. 3 

 58.1 



Per cent. 

 27.0 

 59.2 



Hours. 

 0.36 





.78 







Total man labor 



89.9 

 2.5 

 7.6 



89.9 

 1.0 

 9.1 



89.8 

 1.8 



8.4 



1.68 

 .03 

 .16 



87.0 

 2.9 

 10.1 



85.4 

 1.1 

 13.5 



86.2 

 2.0 

 11.8 



1.14 

 .03 





.16 







Total 



100.0 



100.0 



100.0 



1.87 



100.0 



100.0 



100.0 



1.33 







Table 6 shows that 64.2 per cent of the work during the two win- 

 ters and 59.2 per cent of the work during the two summers was per- 

 formed by hired men. It is a practice in that part of the country, 

 especially with the larger dairies, to hire a man and put him in 

 charge of the dairy. The men who follow this line of work are for 

 the most part of Scandinavian or Swiss descent. They become very 

 proficient and make excellent dairymen. They follow regular sched- 

 ules for doing their work and develop a wonderful capacity for 



