1922.] Labour Organization on East Midlands Farm. 451 



crops. The greater bulk of the root crops and their greater 

 manurial requirements, partly explain the large demands which 

 these crops make. The other reason is that they have 

 not yet largely responded to the use of implements. In some 

 crops the manual labour demands are low with relatively large 

 requirements for horse labour. Grain and beans are examples. 

 These are crops for which implements and machinery are largely 

 used, thus greatly reducing the manual labour required in 

 handling them. The opposite condition of things is seen in most 

 of the other crops — the men are relatively more important than 

 the horses — showing that implements and machinery have not 

 yet been devised seriously to reduce the use of manual labour. 

 These facts are well known to farmers, but their general import- 

 ance in governing the area under any type of crop is not so 

 well realised. 



It is easy to handle large areas of crops which are worked by 

 implements, and within limits the area can be increased with- 

 out largely disturbing the labour requirements. This is well 

 illustrated in prairie farming where manual labour is scarce and 

 dear, and the only crops grown are consequently those on which 

 machinery can be used. On the other hand, with crops needing 

 much manual labour per acre, the area must necessarily be 

 limited, and cannot be increased to any extent unless a much 

 larger supply of labour is obtainable. The question of seasonal 

 distribution has also to be considered, e.g., in the case of potatoes 

 the planting and lifting periods mostly require a supply of labour 

 outside the ordinary resources of the farm. 



The question of management must also be thought of. It 

 takes comparatively little effort to direct operations on crops 

 where the manual labour requirements are small, but a much 

 higher standard of efficiency in management is essential for a 

 similar area under the potato or other crop where a large number 

 of labourers must be directed and controlled in their work. 



x\lternatively, the influence of such crops as the rotation 

 grasses and grazing in reducing the demand for labour should 

 be observed. The total requirements of these crops are very 

 small compared with the other crops on the farm. The Greatest 

 reduction will be possible when the land is laid down to grass 

 and grazed only. Seeds hay and meadow hay require an 

 appreciable amount of labour, as the table shows. Where 

 temporary leys are put down the labour demands will depend 

 on the time the land is left down. If the four-course shift is 



e 2 



