26 BULLETIN 528, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



can be planted to the same crop. The seventh field to enter into the 

 rotation will be the 9.1-acre field, separated from the pasture area. 

 In addition to the rotation area, 10.2 acres can be kept permanently 

 in alfalfa and 9.5 acres in timothy, reseeding any portion when neces- 

 sary by first planting corn for the silo, following with wheat. The 

 9.5 acres of permanent timothy is a field that is irregularly shaped 

 for cultivation, rather low, and best suited to this crop. 



The periods of harvesting corn for grain, for plowing sod, and 

 for hauling manure, have been varied (within the limits of possi- 

 bility, however) from the outline given in Table X, in order to f acili- 

 tate labor. It was found that by increasing the acreage of field 

 corn, and decreasing the acreage of alfalfa, the crops could be handled 

 with about the same amount of labor, but that this labor would be 

 much more evenly distributed throughout the season. 



Table XII gives the total amount of man and horse labor re- 

 quired under the revised system. Because of the increased acreage 

 of corn, a part of the labor for harvesting this crop was carried over 

 into November, and the figures for this month also include the 

 manuring and plowing of 9.8 acres of sod land to be planted to corn 

 for grain the next season. The balance of the corn land to be planted 

 for grain will be manured in February and the area for silage manured 

 in March. 



The graphic illustration of the labor required in the replanned crop- 

 ping system (fig. 3, B) shows a much more even seasonal distribution 

 of horse labor. The greatest variation comes in June, which is due 

 to the fact that the grass mixture contains alfalfa, which requires 

 early harvesting. Because of the labor requirements in enterprises 

 other than field crops, it is possible that four farm horses should be 

 kept on this farm. By arranging the work and concentrating all 

 efforts on the field crops during the month of June, it is probable that 

 this harvesting can be done without hiring extra horse labor. When 

 it is necessary to reseed the permanent alfalfa or timothy, the horse- 

 labor for August will be greater than represented on the chart, but 

 in no case greater than for June. 



The man-labor requirements for September and October are much 

 greater than for any other month. This condidtion is hard to change. 

 It may be possible, however, to lower the amount of man labor in 

 September by the use of a corn harvester, and this can be done with- 

 out radically changing the horse-labor distribution. It is compara- 

 tively easy, furthermore, to hire extra labor in husking corn. If the 

 farm help is needed In thrashing wheat, this operation could more 

 advantageously be done in the month of August. 



