DEMAND FOR HARVEST LABOR IN THE WHEAT BELT. 13 
The reasons for this policy are of much importance in connection 
with the matter of estimating the amounts of harvest labor that will 
be needed in any area during a harvest season. Of course the figures 
do not signify that none of the farms took more than 14 days for the 
completion of their harvests. Table 3 shows that 26.3 per cent 
of all the farms visited harvested more than 14 days, and that 11.5 
per cent harvested from 19 to 30 days. But very few farms of less 
than 480 acres harvested more than 18 days, and a still smaller 
number of even the largest farms harvested more than 21 days. It 
is substantially true to say that the wheat farmers take no longer 
to harvest farms of 2,000 or 4,000 acres than farms of 800 acres. 
On farms of smaller size the duration of the harvest increases with 
the size of the farm. Farms of 160 acres or less are ordinarily 
Fic. 2A header outfit in Pawnee County, Kans. This header outfit consists of a tractor, a header for 
cutting the grain, and the header barges, to haul the harvested heads to the stack. The elevator is carry- 
ing the heads into the barge at its right. In the rear, a team and loaded barge are pulling off to the 
right. This header crew consists of tractor operator, header operator, two teamsters and the barge 
man, andastacker. This outfit cut and stacked 30 acres of wheat per day. 
finished in 8 or 9 days; of 240 acres in 9 or 10 days; of 320 acres in 11 
or 12 days; of 480 acres in 13 or 14 days; of 640 acres in 13 to 15 
days; and of 880 acres in 15 to 18 days. 
This increase in the duration of the harvest with the size of the 
farm in the case of the smaller farms is largely due to the fact that the 
amount of mechanical equipment (number of binders or headers) on 
the farms does not increase commensurately with the increase in 
acreage. A farmer on 240 acres can use the same equipment and 
same number of laborers as a 160-acre farmer and simply take a 
little longer time to cut his larger crop. A farmer with 400 acres 
of wheat may cut his crop with no more equipment than used by a 
man with 200 acres of wheat. Nature does not force the smaller 
