LABOR EEQUIEEMENTS AISTD MILKING MACHINES, 7 



cost factor in the production of milk. Excluding the hauling of 

 milk, the labor cost represented 18.9 per cent of the total cost." 



Tabt.e I. — Relation bcticccn man labor employed, crops grown, and stock Jccpt 

 on far)ns in the areas studied. 



FARMS •WITHOUT MILKING MACHINES. 



Area. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



si:e 

 (acres). 



Number 

 of men 

 employed 

 per farm 

 per year. 



Acres of 



crops 



raised per 



farm. 



Acres of 



crops per 



man. 



Number 



of dairy 



cows per 



farm. 



Number 

 of dairy- 

 cows per 

 man. 



_ 



53 

 60 



191.4 

 146.7 



2.16 

 2.14 



73.8 

 90.75 



34.2 



42.4 



30.8 

 20.5 



14.3 



Michigan-Ohio and Illinois 



9.6 



FARMS WITH MILKING MACHINES. 



New York 



56 

 100 



213. 9 

 166.4 



2.12 

 2. 22 



71.4 

 98.3 



33.7 

 44.3 



34.9 

 23.7 



16.5 



Michigan-Ohio and Illinois 



10.7 



As is shown in Table I, the farms studied in the Michigan-Ohio 

 and Illinois areas have a larger proportion of their total acreage in 

 crops than those studied in New York. They raise more crops per 

 man emplo^'ed and keep fewer dairy cow^s. From the standpoint of 

 the labor thej employ, their organization is much better than that 

 of the Xew York dairy farm, in that there is much more uniformity 

 between the help required to care for the herd and that needed to 

 care for the farm crops. Even upon farms of this type, however, 

 the milking machine has become important, owing to the scarcity of 

 dependable farm labor and of good hand milkers. 



The use of the mechanical milker did not affect the number of acres 

 of crops cared for by one man on the farms studied in either the New 

 York or the Central States areas, but in both of these localities a man 

 was able to care for and milk more cows on those farms having milk- 

 ing machines. On the New York farms having mechanical milkers 

 10.5 cows were kept per man, as against 14.3 cows per man on those 

 farms wliifh depended upon hand milking. The farms in the Michi- 

 gan-Ohio and Illinois areas having milking machines kept approxi- 

 mately one cow more per man employed than those without machines. 

 The milking machine made it possible to increase the size of the dairy 

 without increasing the amount of labor needed to care for it. 



SIZE OF HERD AND LABOR REQUIREMENTS. 



Table II shows that huge dniiy farms recjuire proportionately less 

 labor to operate them than do farms keeping small herds. The same 

 fact is brought out in a differ-ent way in Table III, Avhere it is shown 

 that it requires more time to care for a cow in a small herd than one 

 in a large herd. 



