﻿NORMAL DAY S WOEK FOR VARIOUS FARM OPERATIONS. 



29 



Table XXVIII. — A normal day's work in mowing, raking, tedding, and cocking hay, 

 giving the average acreages reported for sizes most frequently used, adjustments for these 

 sizes, and allowances deduced for other sizes. 



[Net hours in the field: For mowing, 9.52; for raking, 8.44; for tedding, 8.26; and for cocking, 9.12.] 



Operation. 



Mowing. 

 Baking. . 



Tedding 



Cocking (1 man). 



Most 



common 



width. 



Feet. 



Number 

 of horses. 



Acreage 

 per day. 



8.85 

 11.99 

 17.91 



9.75 

 15.88 



6.29 



Number 

 averaged, 



1,251 



238 



885 



36 



113 



1,122 



Adjusted 

 acreage. 



8.0 

 10.8 

 17.0 



8.7 

 14.3 



5.7 



Other 

 reported 

 widths. 



Feet. 

 4-7 

 6-12 

 8-16 

 5-10 

 6-12 



Allowance 

 for other 

 widths 

 per foot. 



Acres. 

 1.70 

 .75 

 .80 

 .65 

 .85 



In hauling hay from windrows to barn, using a hay loader in the 

 field, 36 per cent of farmers do the work with three men, 23 per cent 

 with two men, and 14 per cent with four men, while much smaller 

 percentages use larger crews. It also appears that two horses are 

 used by 38 per cent and four horses by 31 per cent, while 42 per cent 

 use an 8-foot, 17 per cent the 6-foot, and 15 per cent the 10-foot 

 loader. From analytical tables it was also evident that the odd man 

 in three and five man crews adds very little to the amount accom- 

 plished daily, and also that the hay sling or fork increases the 

 efficiency of the equipment from 30 to 40 per cent. Increases in the 

 number of men or horses are not attended by proportional increases 

 in the amount of work done, the smaller units being most efficient. 

 A relative decrease in efficiency per man or per horse with an increas- 

 ing size of crew is uniformly found in all of the tables for crew work. 

 In this operation the duty of a man with the organization stated is 

 from 1.5 to 2.5 acres daily when unloading by hand and from 2.25 to 

 3 acres when unloading with sling or hay fork. The 2-horse and 

 4-horse crews are most efficient from the standpoint of total acreage 

 cleared daily, odd horses adding very little to the efficiency of the 

 organization. Those crews having only two men appear to be most 

 effective, owing probably to having the proprietor to set the pace, 

 while the larger crews give opportunity for lost motion through help 

 working only for wages and the limited ability of the average farmer 

 to direct the efforts of others as he can his own. When unloading by 

 hand with the equipment under consideration, the duty of each horse 

 is from 1.75 to 2.25 acres, and when the sling is used this duty should 

 be raised to from 2.5 to 3.5 acres per horse per day. Each foot in width 

 of loader should cover from 0.70 to 1 acre when the loads are thrown 

 off by hand and from 1 to 1.4 acres when unloading with sling or 

 hay fork. In the operation of haying, for distances under 200 rods, 

 the tabulation of the data by distance hauled shows no relation 

 between distance from stack or barn and the acreage cleared in a 

 day. 



