UNITED STATES DEFARTMEN^r OF AGRICULTURE 



2 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



September 22, 1916 



THE NORMAL DAY'S WORK OF FARM IMPLEMENTS, WORK- 

 MEN, AND CREWS IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 



By H. H. MowRY, Agriculturist. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



A normal day's work 2 



Source of data 2 



Local conditions 3 



Plowing 3 



Harrowing '4 



The land roller 6 



Grain crop operations 6 



Threshing wheat 7 



Handling manure 8 



Operations on the corn crop 8 



Operations on the bean crop 10 



Haying operations 11 



Operations on the cabbage crop 12 



Operations on fruit crops 14 



Every fanner needs to have a definite idea as to what constitutes a 

 fair day's work in each of his operations, so that the annual work may 

 be planned intelhgently and carried out on time. In order to obtain 

 results from hired help it is necessary to know what each man and 

 team should accomphsh daily. The same knowledge wiU serve to 

 prevent the overtaxing of horses and the crowding of men beyond a 

 fair amount of service. Where hired help understand that a fair and 

 definite amount of work, not in excess of what can be performed day 

 after day without impairing health or eflTiciency, is normally expected, 

 the necessity of personal supervision by the employer is reduced. 

 Compensation can also be asked and paid on the basis of this reason- 

 able service and the relations of all concerned be made more satis- 

 factory. 



Knowledge of what constitutes a fair day's work in a given locality, 

 based upon the experience of many neighbors, is a valuable guide to the 

 individual farmer. The data of tliis bulletin, a summary of which is 

 given in Table I, represent the experience of several hundred practical 

 farmers in western New York, and has appUcation to the conditions 

 which existed there. Knowledge of what is accomplished by farmers 

 in other locaUties is aLso of value to those in western New York, 

 because for more operations other sections of the United States have 

 worked out more efficient methods of dohig work and handling men, 



Mlor-Iiull. 412— ic 



