326 



Farm Labour Organization. 



[July, 



stock it carries which makes the demand for labour ; only in two 

 months in the year — July and August — during haymaking was 

 any work actually carried out on the grass. Neither harrowing 

 or rolling appears to have been done in the spring of 1919. 



A reiteration of the necessity for thorough organization is 

 made here. Every farmer should think ahead and have a 

 programme of the main work to be accomplished on his farm. 

 It is not expected that farm work can altogether be carried out 

 according to schedule, but a good programme will minimize 

 errors and avoid delays. Greater efficiency in the management 

 of the labour should result in obtaining a larger production from 

 a given expenditure, for if men can be kept fully employed on 

 directly productive work the unit cost of production mast fall. One 

 expedient of the inefficient manager, in order to reduce labour 

 expenditure, is to get rid of some of the men, when there is little 

 work to be accomplished, thus reducing them to part-time 

 workers. The effect of this action on the farmer, worker, and 

 society at large has already been discussed, 



Horse Labour. — Graph No. 2 (Fig. 2^ shows the distribution 

 of the horse labour on this farm. The same sub-division has 

 been adopted as in the manual labour graph. The actual number 

 of working days per horse during the year was 243.4 or 77.8 

 per cent, of the total possible working days. The percentage 

 of the possible working days in each month of the year was as 

 follows : — 



June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 



1918 ... 76-1 48-1 87-1 7G-7 88-7 84-4 74-8 



Jan. Feb. March. April. May. 



1919 ... 73-9 73-7 66'6 90-0 74-6 



It must not be assumed, owing to the small percentage 

 worked in certain months, that this farm was overstocked 

 with work horses, or that the great irregularity shows 

 inefficient management. It has already been demonstrated,* 

 that similar results are obtained by taking the average of five 

 farms of different types. The number of working horses which 

 a farm requires is not determined by the average requirements 

 over the year, but by the number necessary to overtake the 

 work in the busiest months. Therefore, on this farm, 

 although an extremely slack period occurs in July, and com- 

 paratively slack periods in June, December, January, February, 

 March and May in the year under review, yet a sufficient number 

 of horses must be retained in these months to accomplish the 



* C. S. Orwin, Determination of Farming Costs, 2nd Edition, 1921. 



