﻿BULLEl 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 

 September 23, 1913. 



A NORMAL DAY'S WORK FOR VARIOUS FARM 

 OPERATIONS. 



By H. H. Mowry, 

 Assistant Agriculturist, Office of Farm Management, Bureau of Plant Industry. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In order that farm work may be planned in advance or performed 

 properly from season to season, it is essential to know what may 

 fairly be expected daily of a workman for each kind of work, of any 

 kind and size of implement, of each unit of power, and of any prac- 

 ticable combination of power, workmen, and tools. Data of this 

 character are peculiarly valuable when a new and unfamiliar enter- 

 prise is to be undertaken by the farmer, and particularly where a 

 partial or general reorganization of the farm business is contemplated. 

 Such data are also necessary to insure that adequate labor and equip- 

 ment are provided for and that the former is occupied to its fullest 

 extent throughout the season, to determine the feasibility of a crop- 

 ping system or rotation, to plan a practicable distribution of labor, 

 and to insure that normal daily efficiency is secured from man and 

 horse or to make certain that they are not overtaxed. The imme- 

 diate demand that at least general averages of this character be made 

 available for the farm-reorganization work of the Office of Farm 

 Management has resulted in the accumulation of the data presented 

 in the following pages. Since the normal daily efficiency of equip- 

 ment and workmen is an element or factor both of the planning and 

 execution of farm work, the average or normal day's work for each 

 operation is referred to in the text and tables as a " daily factor." 



RELATION OF FARM EQUIPMENT TO FARM MANAGEMENT. 



From the practical standpoint, each individual farm must be con- 

 sidered as a business entity as well as a physical unit, and farm man- 

 agement is concerned with the planning, adjustment, and seasonal 

 manipulation of the elements of farm production (land, crops, live 

 stock, labor, tools, and structures), so that all will mutually operate 

 5774°— Bui. 3—13 1 



