SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF FARM LABOR. 3 



in hauling manure or marketing a crop in winter, and the average 

 number of hours worked per day for each month. From the data on 

 the distribution and efficiency of labor, factors have been worked 

 out by which it is possible to calculate very closely the amount of horse 

 and man labor required for any cropping system and for any arrange- 

 ment and acreage of crops, provided of course that topography, 

 climate, and other conditions approximate those that obtain where 

 this study was made. 



The second part of the bulletin illustrates the application of these 

 data and the factors derived therefrom in the operation of a typical 

 Chester County farm, offering a concrete example that may be used 

 to more or less advantage by the farmer who wishes to replan his 

 farming system along the lines here suggested. 



LABOR EFFICIENCY AS AFFECTED BY SOIL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND FIELD 



ARRANGEMENT. 



The average efficiency for any crew working tillage machinery 

 will vary to some extent with the kind of soil, the size and shape 

 of the field, the rough or rolling nature of the field, and the amount 

 and distribution of rainfall. These things must be considered, there- 

 fore, when the following data are to be used in regions where the 

 conditions vary to any considerable extent from those that prevail in 

 Chester County. 



The surface soil of the Chester loam, 1 which is mapped on the 

 greater part of this area, is a mellow, soft, brown silty loam about 10 

 inches in average depth, sometimes varying from a silty to a heavy 

 loam, or to a sandy or micaceous loam. Under average climatic con- 

 ditions these soils work comparatively easily when 1,200 to 1,400 

 pound horses are used. The soil does not easily crust or bake. 

 Under very dry conditions it is sometimes rather difficult to plow, 

 and some allowance should be made if clover, timothy, or alfalfa 

 seedings are to be made in August. 



The general shape of the field has much to do with the efficiency of 

 horse labor. Where the topography is rolling and but little broken 

 by rough wooded areas or streams the general arrangement of the 

 fields may be changed to economize labor. In Chester County, 

 however, we have conditions very hard to change, since the area 

 studied is often much broken by small streams with adjacent steep 

 slopes, often wooded, dividing the farming area into natural divisions 

 with irregularly shaped fields which require an unusual amount of 

 horse labor in handling farm machinery. 



It is for this reason, probably, that the average number of crop 

 acres per horse on the farms visited is less than on the farms surveyed 

 in certain other regions. On many farms visited, however, a rear- 



1 Soil Survey of Chester County, Pa. 



