UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 528 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management. 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief. 
Washington, D. C. 
April 13, 1917 
SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF FARM LABOR IN 
CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 
By George A. Billings, Agriculturist. 
Part I— Chester County (Pa.) data: 
Territory surveyed and method used 
Labor efficiency as affected by soil, topo- 
graphy, and field arrangement 
Types of farming 
Available time for field operations 
Period of performing field operations 
Succession of operations 
Crews and machinery 
Summary of labor requirements of crops. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. | Part II— How to use the foregoing data: Page. 
Description of farm selected 20 
Determining labor requirements of old 
system 22 
Replanning cropping system 25 
Comparative labor requirements 28 
Comparative returns 28 
Conclusion 29 
PART I.— CHESTER COUNTY (PA) DATA. 
The purpose of this bulletin is (1) to set forth the actual labor 
distribution that prevails on farms profitably conducted in a par- 
ticularly successful farming community, and (2) to show How these 
data may be applied profitably in replanning a farm of the type 
covered in the survey upon which this study is based. 
It often happens that when a farmer undertakes to put into opera- 
tion a new system he encounters grave and unforeseen difficulties 
through the conflict of the labor and equipment demands of his 
different enterprises, Even more frequently it happens that long 
existing farming systems chronically suffer in their operations through 
the strenuous labor demands of certain seasons and through the 
enforced idleness of others. When an abundance of day labor, both 
man and horse, is easily and continually available, the problem is 
never a serious one. There is, however, a great advantage in being 
able to employ labor by the season or by the year, and it is practically 
necessary to keep on the farm horses and equipment adequate to 
77590°— Bull. 528—17—1 
