14 BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



will only be necessary to calculate on the basis of actual time required 

 to do the work. 



The rates for horse labor were established in precisely the same 

 manner as for the regular labor. It often happens that the operator 

 is obliged to hire an extra team for rush work. The price which is 

 paid is based usually upon the prevailing rate in the district. This 

 furnished a very reliable guide for our calculations. 



Contract labor takes care of such items as blocking and thinning, 

 first and second hoeing, pulling weeds, and topping. On a few of 

 these farms this work was done by the operator and his family. 

 For the remaining farms, hands (often entire families) were engaged 

 for the season. Fairly uniform acre rates have been established, 

 though some variation may be found in comparing one district with 

 another. In sections where a flat rate prevailed, the blocking and 

 thinning rate was usually $6 per acre. The first hoeing cost $2 per 

 acre, second hoeing $1 per acre, and the pulling and topping, together, 

 amounted to $9 per acre, making a total charge of $18 per acre for 

 the contract work or hand labor. 



FARM PRACTICE. 



REMOVING TRASH. 



Some preliminary work is occasionally necessary, particularly on 

 fields where vine crops have been grown or where potatoes with 

 luxuriant tops have been produced. It may not be possible to 

 incorporate the residue with the soil ; consequently this material may 

 either be placed in a composite heap to decay, or burned. There 

 were only two records reporting work of this character. On one 

 farm, at Greeley, removing a very small amount of residue cost but 

 12 cents per acre. On another, at Rocky Ford, where there was a 

 heavy growth of vines to be removed, the cost was considerably 

 greater than this. The true average labor requirement for this 

 operation could not be determined with the limited number of records 

 available. 



SCRAPING THE LAND. 



When new fields are brought under cultivation, some work is usually 

 done with a scraper for the purpose of creating a level surface, thereby 

 facilitating irrigation. Indeed, some scraping may be done occa- 

 sionally on old fields in order to reduce knolls and perhaps to fill in 

 low places. In this study scraping is considered as improvement 

 work. Two records on scraping were obtained, in Weld County. 

 The operation was performed on one of these farms by one man and 

 two horses, at a cost of .$1.03 per acre, and on the other by one man 

 and four horses, at $1.26 per acre. 



