30 



BULLETIN 135. U. S. DEPARTMENT' OF AGRICULTURE. 



fields at this work. The "work of thinning, which requires the worker 

 to stoop or crawl along the beet row, is performed by boys or girls 

 about 15 years of age. in many cases more efficiently than by men. 

 In figuring the costs for this labor, children who are able to do full 

 work have been allowed the same rate per hour for labor as men. 

 All the labor is estimated on the basis of what a man can do per day. 

 There is no indication that men who do their own beet thinning get 

 better crops than those who have the thinning done under contract. 



Of the 305 farms in the entire study, on 227 farms a whole or part 

 of the hand labor was contracted for at a definite rate per acre for the 

 work. The area worked in this manner was 6,399 acres, at a cost to 

 the farmer of $18.53 per acre for all hand labor, which includes thin- 

 ning, hoeing, topping, etc. On 91 acres the contract was for block- 

 ing and thinning only, at an average price of $G.89 per acre. On 123^ 

 acres the contract was for piling and topping only, at an average 

 cost of $9.14 per acre. There were no farms where hoeing was con- 

 tracted for as a separate operation. (Table IX.) 



Table IX. — Average requirements and cost per acre of hand labor on the 

 sugar-beet crop in the Billings region in 1015. 



[Hand labor is figured at 20 cents per hour.] 



Kind of work. 



Labor done by 

 grower. 



Hours. 



Cost. 



Labor contracted 



Hours. 



Cost. 



Average, for each 

 acre planted. 



Hours. 



Cost. 



Blocking and thinnir 



First hoeing 



Second hoeing 



Pulling and topping. 



Total 



36.9 



15.5 



7.9 



36.5 



S7.38 

 3.09 

 1.59 

 7.30 



30.9 

 10.3 

 5.15 



46.30 



S6.18 

 2.06 

 1.03 

 9.26 



32.25 



11.5 



5.8 



43.65 



16.45 

 2.30 

 1.16 

 8.73 



96. 



19.36 



3.65 



19.53 



93.2 



18.64 



The general impression in the Billings refgion is that the contract 

 laborers get a good price for the work of thinning, topping, etc., but 

 the good daily wage is due largely to the fact that they work rapidly 

 so as to complete the thinning before the beets are very large, and 

 that they work very long days. The thinner averages from 12 to 14 

 hours per day; this is especially true of the contract laborers. Some 

 of these workers become very expert, being able to block and thin an 

 acre of beets in two days; some even exceed this rate. 



Growers who do their own hand labor are in most cases men who 

 have large families and who have had experience as contract beet 

 workers. They are usually of foreign birth. It is very common for 

 a man to come into the region and work a few years as a contract 

 laborer and then rent or buy a farm and begin to work for himself. 

 These men who are successful in saving enough money to begin farm- 

 ing for themselves are usually the most industrious of the contract 

 laborers. Having bad experience iu handling the crop, they usually 

 grow rather large acreages of beet-. 



