SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION" OF FARM LABOR. 25 
required at this season for repairs and improvements of fences, 
buildings, or implements, and the hauling of fertilizer, feed, and 
milk, which is not shown in this chart. 
REPLANNING CROPPING SYSTEM. 
After having studied this cropping system from the standpoint of 
labor, the next point is to consider whether or not the cropping 
system can be changed, either by rearranging the fields to establish a 
definite rotation, by rearranging the acreages of crops, or by the 
introduction of new crops to balance the months of very high labor 
requirement, so as to increase the net income of the farm. The 
effect on the income of the farmer is the primary point of view to be 
taken in replanning a farm, taking into consideration, of course, the 
maintenance of soil and equipment and the availability of labor. 
If extra horse or man labor can be obtained whenever necessary, a 
farmer may be justified in practically ignoring labor requirements 
and selecting those enterprises which are best adapted to the farm 
conditions. 
The layout of the farm in question was studied with a view to such 
rearrangement and a 7-year rotation was established as follows: 
1. Corn for grain. 
2. Corn (for grain, 7.1 acres; for silo, 2.7 acres.) 
3. Corn for the silo. 
4. Wheat. 
5. Clover, timothy, and alfalfa hay (2 cuttings). 
6. Timothy and alfalfa hay (2 cuttings). 
7. Timothy and alfalfa hay (mostly alfalfa). 
In contemplating a change in the cropping system the rotation 
must conform to the general layout of the farm. There are often 
conditions which prevent the readjustment of fields in the manner 
desired. Moreover, it is desirable to make changes that will require 
the least expense. The rotation outlined in the revised plan of this 
farm is not a rotation generally recommended for the average Chester 
County farm, but is suggested because it is best adapted to the 
existing field arrangement. Under ordinary farm practice, with 
clover one year, followed by timothy for one or two years, three years 
of corn in succession might have an influence to decrease crop yields. 
On this farm, however, the influence of an alfalfa sod supplemented 
by an application of manure to the corn crop will tend to increase, 
rather than decrease, crop yields. 
The principal crop area was divided into five fields of 9.8 acres 
each, a triangular field of 3.4 acres at the farther end of this tillable 
tract, and one field of 6.4 acres formerly in wheat seeded to alfalfa 
on the other side of the farm lane, making together 9.8 acres which 
