20 



BULLETIN 564, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was a rather large number and is apparently due to a sudden emer- 

 gence of a great number of weevils at about this time. This plat 

 was picked five times in all on the following dates, June 16, 22, 29, 

 July 10 and 17. This made the pickings extend over a total period 

 of 32 days, the average time interval being eight days. 



At the time of the first picking the stage of plant development 

 was determined by a series of square counts and plant-height measure- 

 ments distributed over the two plats. From these it was found that 

 there was an average of 3.1 squares per plant and the average height 

 of the plants was 11.4 inches at this time. 



The time required to make the various pickings is shown in 

 Table 16. 



Table 16. — Labor involved in weevil picking; Hecla plantation experiment, Mound, 



La., 1916. 





Area. 



Per plat. 



Per acre. 



Date. 



Hours, 

 labor. 



Cost of 

 labor at 

 H cents 

 per hour. 



Hours, 

 labor. 



Cost of 

 labor at 

 1\ cents 

 per hour. 



June 16 



Acres. 

 1.44 

 1.44 

 1.44 

 1.44 

 1.44 



7.5 

 4.5 

 8.0 

 7.0 

 9.0 



SO. 56 

 .34 

 .60 

 .53 

 .68 



5.2 

 3.1 

 5.6 

 4.9 

 6.2 



SO. 39 



June 22 



.24 



June 29 



.42 



July 10 



.37 



July 17 



.47 







Total 





36.0 



2.71 



25.0 

 5.0 



1.89 



Average 









.38 



Both men and women were used for this purpose, and as the work 

 was about equally divided between the two the value of the labor 

 is figured at the rate of 1\ cents an hour, which represents a fair 

 average. From this table it is seen that an average of five hours per 

 acre was required for each picking. Figuring on the basis of a 10-hour 

 day this would mean 2 acres per day per hand on the average. This 

 is a slightly higher average than has been secured from most of the 

 figures on area covered per hand per day and is probably due to the 

 fact that with the number of hands used and the small size of the 

 plats only a few hours were required for the picking. It is quite 

 probable that the laborers would not have maintained this same rate 

 of speed if they had been working all day. The cost figures show 

 an average of 38 cents per acre per picking, or a total of SI. 89 per 

 acre for the five pickings. 



In connection with these same labor observations, a comparison 

 was made of the relative efficiency of different individuals. Three 

 men were selected, two of whom were fast workers and the third 

 a very slow hand. Separate records were kept of these individuals 

 while the fast hands were covering eight rows each and the slow 



