STANDARDS OF LABOR. 5 



hindrance in plowing and cultivating. Where stumps are numerous 

 it is impossible to do a normal day's work. Small fields interfere 

 very much with all kinds of mule work, because such fields usually 

 have short rows which entail a great deal of turning and consequent 

 loss of time. Terraces and ditches also interfere with field work 

 because they often necessitate short rows. Heavy clay soils retard 

 certain operations, particularly that of breaking. On the other hand, 

 where the opposite of these conditions obtains, work will proceed 

 more rapidly than on the average. 



The extremes of such conditions on certain farms result in wide 

 variations from the normal, but the influence of all such factors is 

 neutralized to a large extent when a large number of records are 

 considered for a given crop or operation. It is believed that the 

 number of estimates here presented is large enough on most opera- 

 tions to give a reliable average. It will be noted in the tables show- 

 ing crew duty that the acreages most frequently reported for any one 

 operation, and the number of farmers so reporting, is given. Thus 

 the average acreage may be compared with the acreage most fre- 

 quently reported. When the number of estimates is not large enough, 

 the statements made regarding the figures involved are qualified. 



In the study of tables showing crew duty, it should be borne in 

 mind that all the tables show, incidentally, the duty of machinery 

 and implements as well as the duty of crews. 



Labor requirements fer acre. — The amount of labor required per 

 acre to perform a given operation depends, of course, upon the crew 

 duty for that operation. Therefore, knowing the duty of crews, it 

 is easy to determine the labor requirement per acre (expressed in 

 days or fractions of days) for eacli operation which may be performed, 

 and also the average total amount of labor per acre actually spent 

 on the principal operations. It is especially important to know the 

 latter figure in order better to estimate the amount of labor (number 

 of laborers) necessary to handle the crops which it is desired to grow; 

 or, on the other hand, to adjust acreages so that labor requirements 

 for all crops grown will not be beyond the capacity of the available 

 labor on the farm. 



SOIL PREPARATION. 



Crew duty at preparing land for various crops may be considered 

 without regard to the crop to be grown, because preparation work, 

 in so far as crew duty is concerned, is similar for all crops. There- 

 fore, since preparation work easily lends itself to a separate discus- 

 sion, crew duty at such work will be dealt with before takbig up the 

 discussion of crew duty at such operations as planting, cultivating, 

 and harvesting on each crop. Treating preparation separately ntakes 

 available a larger number of estimates than if preparation wor^ con- 



