UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 528 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management. 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief. 



Washington, D. C. 



April 13, 1917 



SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF FARM LABOR IN 

 CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 



By George A. Billings, Agriculturist. 



CONTENTS. 



Part I— Chester County (Pa.) data: 



Territory surveyed and method used 



Labor efficiency as affected by soil, topo- 

 graphy, and field arrangement 



Types of farming 



Available time for field operations 



Period of performing field operations 



Succession of operations 



Crews and machinery 



Summary of labor requirements of crops. 



Page. 



Part II— How to use the foregoing data: Page. 



Description of farm selected 20 



Determining labor requirements of old 



system 22 



Replanning cropping system 25 



Comparative labor requirements 28 



Comparative returns 28 



Conclusion 29 



PART I.— CHESTER COUNTY (PA) DATA. 



The purpose of this bulletin is (1) to set forth the actual labor 

 distribution that prevails on farms profitably conducted in a par- 

 ticularly successful farming community, and (2) to show how these 

 data may be applied profitably in replanning a farm of the type 

 covered in the survey upon which this study is based. 



It often happens that when a farmer undertakes to put into opera- 

 tion a new system he encounters grave and unforeseen difficulties 

 through the conflict of the labor and equipment demands of his 

 different enterprises, Even more frequently it happens that long 

 existing farming systems chronically suffer in their operations through 

 the strenuous labor demands of certain seasons and through the 

 enforced idleness of others. When an abundance of day labor, both 

 man and horse, is easily and continually available, the problem is 

 never a serious one. There is, however, a great advantage in being 

 able to employ labor by the season or by the year, and it is practically 

 necessary to keep on the farm horses and equipment adequate to 



, 77590°— Bull. 528—17 1 



