DEMAND FOR HARVEST LABOR IN THE WHEAT BELT. 3 
harvest of 1921, that the formula itself can be made more accurate; 
and that, properly modified, the formula can be adapted for use in 
computing the labor needs of wheat areas which use either the header 
or the binder for harvesting. In its original form it was intended for 
use only in “header” territory. 
PURPOSE AND METHODS OF THE STUDY. 
The purpose of the present bulletin is to test the accuracy of this 
formula and to determine the adjustments necessary to fit it for use 
in areas where the binder predominates or where the header predomi- 
nates. In short, the task involves a study of the various factors 
which influence the demand for extra labor in harvest and threshing 
eriods, such as the different kinds of machinery, different methods of 
arm management, and different systems of cropping. The accuracy 
of the Kansas formula is tested, and adaptations necessary to fit it 
for use in areas where the binder predominates are suggested. 
The facts cited were obtained from farmers and ee by 
visiting wheat farms in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, the two 
Dakotas and Minnesota, during the harvest and threshing season of 
1921. Starting from Wichita, Kans., on June 26 by automobile, 
two investigators worked through Sedgwick and Harper Counties, 
Kans., into Woods and Alfalfa Counties, Okla., then northwestward 
through the big wheat counties of Kansas to Colby, and eastward 
across southern Nebraska to Grand Island, then drove directly to 
Redfield, S. Dak., and worked eastward from Redfield and Aberdeen 
across northern South Dakota into Big Stone County, Minn. 
Meanwhile another group of investigators began work at Lincoln, 
Nebr., and visited wheat farms in east-central and northeastern 
Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. On August 1 the two 
groups entered North Dakota and spent the entire month in North 
Dakota and in the Red River Valley section of Minnesota, covering 
17 Dakota counties and six Minnesota counties during the month. 
When these two groups had completed their work they had studied 
the wheat farmer’s harvest and threshing labor problems in 66 of the 
most important wheat counties of the United States. 
The facts thus obtained were supplemented and checked by another 
member of the staff who interviewed Federal, State, and county agri- 
cultural and employment office officials, and gave special attention to 
_ the factors controlling the total demand for harvest labor and to the 
_ experiences of the various officials in the importation and distribution 
of harvest hands. 
SELECTION OF COUNTIES VISITED. 
Table I of the Appendix shows the counties in which detailed data 
were obtained from farms. ‘These counties were carefully selected as 
representative of the labor and farm-management problems of the 
wheat belt. Woods and Alfalfa Counties, Okla., and Sumner, Sedg- 
wick and Harper Counties, Kans., were taken as typical representa- 
tives of southern winter wheat areas where the binder predominates 
or is used as commonly as the header. In the other counties visited in 
Kansas, as well as in Hitchcock and Redwillow Counties, Nebr., the 
header is used for harvesting, with an increased number of farms 
using combines, or header-threshers. The types of harvesting ma- 
chinery used had less effect upon the selection Re auiee in the spring 
