22 



BULLETIN 814, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SHOCKING OATS. 



The average performance of 2, 3, and 4 man crews in shocking 

 oats is given in Table XXII. The reports show that two men con- 

 stitute the customary crew for this work on nearly four-fifths of 

 the farms, and that they do on an average 17.4 acres per day, or 

 half an acre less per day than is covered by an 8-foot binder drawn 

 by four horses. The efficiency of the labor decreases decidedly with 

 the addition of extra men to the crew, three men working together 

 covering 2 acres less per day per man than in a 2-man crew, and 

 four men covering nearly 3 acres less per man. Part of this reduc- 

 tion in efficiency is due to the fact that it is customary for the 



Fig. 9. — The portable elevator is generally used for unloading grain. 



shockers to follow around the field closely after the binder, and no 



matter how many men are used they can not shock any more grain 



in a given time than is cut by the binder after which they are 



working. 



Table XXII. — Sliockinff oats. 



Number 

 of men. 



Number 

 of reports. 



Acres per day. 



Average 

 per crew. 



Average 

 per man. 



Average per crew 

 most oiten reported. 



3 

 4 



400 



101 



16 



17.4 



20.0 

 23.4 



8.7 



6.7 

 5.9 



(15 (,10S reports). 

 \20 (143 reports). 



20 (47 reports). 



20 (7 reports). 



517 





8.2 





The yield per acre of oats evidently has very little effect upon the 

 amount of work done by the shockers. The average of 59 estimates 



