412 Cost of Manual Labour in Milk Production. [Aug., 



b. That each cow has had on the average the grazing of 1*5 acres of grass, 

 and consumed, in addition, 

 18 cwt. of purchased food, 

 15 cwt. (or the produce of 0*6 acres) of hay, 

 15 cwt. ( „ „ „ 0-3 „ ) ,, straw, 

 and 4 tons ( „ „ „ *2 „ ) „ roots. 

 During the twelve months 1919-20, when 22 Yorkshire 

 herds were being costed, the total labour bill per cow direct and 

 indirect amounted to £13 6s. lid., and was made up as follows : — 



a. Direct Labour in attention to each cow ... ... ... £10 3 4 



HORSE. MAN. 



b. Indirect Labour s, d. £ s. d. 



i. Employed on 1*5 acres of grazing land 5 2 9 3 



ii. In production of 15 cwt. of hay ... 6 1 114 

 iii. „ „ „ 15 „ of straw ... 3 3 15 



iv. „ „ „ 4 tons of roots ... 7 18 



£3 3 7 



HORSE. MAN. 



Total Labour Bill per cow per year £1 2 £13 (3 11 



Table I. — The Average Yearly Maintenance Cost of a Cow, 



1919-20. 



Average yearly 



cost of upkeep Cost per Per- 

 per Cow, Gallon centage 



1919-20. of Milk. cost. 



£ s. d. £ s. d. 



Purchased Food Stuffs 20 6 8^ 38'5 



Man Labour Bill— a. Direct 10 3 4 4^ 19'6 



b. Indirect 3 3 7 1± 6*1 



Horse Labour 1 2 Oh 2'1 



Depreciation of Cows 8 3| 15-4 



Tradesmen's Bills, including seed and 



manure of home-grown foods fed to cows 5 9 4 2{ 10*3 



Rent and Rates of Land and Buildings 4 2 9 1£ 8'0 



£52 1 6 £0 1 10 100-0 

 That the man labour bill is an important factor in the cost of 

 milk production will be seen from the figures in Table I, which 

 show that in the year 1919-20 it amounted to approximately 6d. 

 per gallon, and represented nearly 26 per cent, of the total 

 yearly cost of maintenance of each cow. With the present fall 

 and the probability in the near future of a still larger fall in 

 the price of milk, the milk producer will have carefully to study 

 his labour bill if he is still to make the production of milk a 

 remunerative transaction. As he will naturally be unwilling to 

 bring down the actual weekly wages of his men lower than is 

 absolutely necessary it will be to the better organisation of that 

 labour and the adoption of more or less simple labour saving 



