10 BULLETIN 748, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



farmers there to follow a crop of clover with sugar beets. This latter 

 practice seems to be a commendable one. 



MAN AND HORSE LABOR. 



In calculating the 1915 costs reported for the various operations 

 discussed here, a rate of 20 cents per hour was used for the man labor 

 and 10 cents per hour for the horse labor. A few enterprise records 

 secured in the Caro district for the crop year 1914 were worked' out 

 with a rate of 16 cents per hour for the man labor. The horse rate 

 was the same as that for the year 1915. In view of the fact that a 

 limited number of records entered into the 1914 determination, the 

 lower man-hour rate that obtained did not appreciably influence the 

 average rate. The latter was about 19 cents per hour. The prevail- 

 ing rates for regular and extra labor were used in working out the 

 standard rates that have been indicated. Contract labor will be 

 treated under a separate paragraph. 



FARM PRACTICES IN GROWING SUGAR BEETS. 



THE USE OF MANURE. 



Sugar-beet operators in these areas appreciate the value of farm 

 manure. They know that it is essential, not only to keep up the soil 

 fertility, but also to add humus and thereby maintain a good physical 

 condition. Three hundred and twenty farmers were interviewed in 

 these districts. The sugar beets on 201 farms received a benefit from 

 an application of manure. Of this number, 45 per cent applied 

 manure directly to sugar-beet land, 30 per cent to corn land, 14 per 

 cent to bean land, and 2 per cent to meadow land. In northwestern 

 Ohio, where 97 farmers were visited, only 32 per cent applied manure. 

 However, 36 per cent plowed under either a crop of clover or clover 

 sod. The latter practice did not prevail in any of the other districts 

 visited. In each of the three other districts approximately 75 per 

 cent applied manure. Where manure was applied directly, 50 per 

 cent of the estimated value was charged to the sugar beet ; if applied 

 to a crop immediately preceding, 30 per cent was charged, and if 

 two other crops preceded the beet, 20 per cent was charged. 



Most of the manure hauling was done during the late fall and early 

 spring months, at a season of the year when there was little field 

 work requiring the attention of the farmer. Fifty-one per cent of 

 the manure was applied with a crew consisting of one man and two 

 horses. Twelve per cent of the farmers used a 1-man and 3-horse 

 crew; on 16 per cent of the farms a 2-man and 2-horse crew was 

 used. 



The average amount of manure applied per acre was fairly uni- 

 form for all districts studied, but the amount applied per acre on 



