14 



BULLETIN 1455, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 12. — Livestock kept on 48 orchard farms, not including work animals; average 



for 1916-1920 



Livestock 



Farms 

 report- 

 ing each 

 class 



Average 

 per farm 

 report- 

 ing 





Nu mber 

 24 

 34 

 4 



27 

 34 



Number 

 3 





3 





26 





2 





32 









Other than work stock. 



LABOR AND MOTIVE POWER 



An average of 36.8 months of labor was required to operate these 

 orchard farms up to the time of apple harvest for the five-year 

 period (Table 13). Of this preharvest labor, 23.2 months were 

 hired and 13.6 months were furnished by the operator and his family. 

 Harvesting required an additional 20.5 months of labor, or a little 

 more than half the amount required to run the farm all the rest of 

 the year. Altogether, 57.3 months of labor was required to run 

 these orchard farms which contained an average of 137 acres, 52 

 acres of which were in bearing orchard. 



The operators' labor was valued at an average of $851 per year. 

 The 23.2 months of preharvest hired labor cost about $952, and the 

 20.5 months of hired harvest labor cost $1,504. There were varia- 

 tions from the five-year averages, during each of these years, in the 

 amounts of labor used per farm, but the greatest variation was found 

 in the amounts of harvesting labor. This is to be expected because 

 of variations in apple yields. 



An average of 4.3 head of work stock was kept on these orchard 

 farms in addition to the power furnished by tractors and motor 

 trucks. The number of work stock decreased over the five-year 

 period from 4.6 per farm in 1916 to 3.9 in 1920. Most of the de- 

 crease occurred on farms where tractors were purchased during the 

 period. None of the 48 orchard farms had tractors in 1916 or 1917. 

 Two farms had tractors in 1918, 10 had them in 1919, and 15 had 

 them in 1920. The first of the motor trucks was purchased in 1918 

 and six farmers acquired them that year. Two farmers purchased 

 trucks in 1919 and four farmers purchased them in 1920. Motor 

 trucks also contributed to the decrease in the number of horses kept 

 per farm. Twelve farms had motor trucks by 1920. These orchard 

 farms averaged one spraying outfit of 200-gallon capacity for each 

 50 acres of orchard. 



