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BULLETIN 1U4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tin' amount of manure recovered and drawn to the fields is about 

 1 ton a month for each cow. The feeding season is about 7 months; 

 the other 5 months the cows are outdoors most of the time. The 

 estimated value of manure on Wisconsin farms in 1920 is $2.25 a ton 

 for that produced during the feeding season and about half that price 

 for the manure left on the fields and pastures, together amounting 

 to $21.25 for the year for each cow. 3 At this rate the credit to milk 

 production on account of manure is 29 cents per 100 pounds for the 

 farms studied. 



LABOR APPLIED TO MILK PRODUCTION. 



The man labor spent on cows and milk per cow averaged 171 hour-s 

 per cow for the year, or 28 minutes a clay. This covers milking, 

 feeding, taring for the barns, utensils, and the like. It does not 

 include hauling manure away from the barn, delivering the milk, or 

 care of the young stock. One farmer with a large herd spent 368 

 hours per cow of direct labor on cows, while the least work reported 

 was 116 hours per cow. Five farms spent as little as 20 minutes a 

 day per cow on care of cows, and only four farms spent more than 

 45 minutes per cow. Five farmers used milking machines part of 

 the year and by use of them were able to reduce the labor to a low 

 point, but several other farmers not equipped with machines spent 

 very little more time on their cows than those using machines. The 

 total labor on the dairy herd averaged 2,706 hours per farm for the 

 year, of which 2,251 hours was for cows. The labor requirements 

 by groups of farms is shown in Table 3. 



Table 3i — Tjibor requirements. Hours of labor per farm, per cow and per l'OO 

 pounds of milk produced, together xcitli variations observed, on .{8 Wisconsin 

 dairy farms in 1920. 





Group 

 A. 



Group 

 B. 



Group 

 C. 



Group 

 D. 



Group 

 E. 



All 

 farms. 





12 

 9,820 



8 

 6,940 



11 

 6,700 



8 

 6,290 



9 

 5,570 



48 



Average production, per cow 



pounds 



7,320 



LABOR REQUIREMENTS (HOURS). 



Total per farm, cattle 



Cow work only, per farm 



Cow work per cow 



Cow work per hundredweight of milk. 



2,808 



3,305 



2,838 



2,433 



2.112 



i 2,328 



2,721 



2, 377 



2,094 



1,714 1 



I 178 



146 



167 



219 



169 i 



i 1.81 



2.11 



2. .50 



3.48 



3.03 



2,70ft 



2,251 



171 



2.34 



VARIATIONS OBSERVED. 



In labor per cow per year: 



Eigne I farm, hoars 



I." rest farm, hours 



In labor per hundredweight of milk: 



Highest farm, hours 



Lowest farm, hours 



368 

 116 



2. S4 

 1.23 



221 

 118 



2.95 

 1.75 



276 

 116 



4.73 

 1.90 



304 

 146 



4.96 

 2. 57 



215 



141 



5.85 

 2.24 



368 



116 



5. 85 

 1.23 



Of the total labor applied to the dairy herd, 85 per cent was spent 

 on the cows, 5 per cent on delivering milk to factory or shipping 

 point, and 10 per cent on caring for the young stock. Half the 



3 A. R. Whitson, head of the department of soils, University of Wisconsin, is the author- 

 ity for the price here used and the allowance of half this value during pasture season. 



