LABOR REQUIREMENTS AND MILKING MACHINES. 
9 
the stock the stables and the cattle themselves have to be kept in a 
clean and sanitary condition. 
Table III shows the time spent during the summer and winter 
seasons in the care of the herd. The table also show that there is 
proportionately much more labor required per cow to care for the 
small herds. In the New York area, on farms where hand milking 
is practiced, the total time spent annually to care for and milk the 
dairy herd was 173.7 hours per cow in the herds of 15 cows and less, 
as compared with 118.2 hours per cow in the herds of 51 or more 
cows. 1 
Table III. — Hours of man labor per year required to eare for and milk a cow 
in herds of different sizes, and when milked by hand or by a mechanical 
milker {hauling to market not included). 
Hours of man labor per cow per year. 
Number of 
herds of each 
size. 
Care of cow (milking 
excluded). 
Milking. 
Total hours 
per year. 
Area and size of herd. 
Total for pas- 
ture season. 1 
Total for re- 
mainder of 
year. 2 
On 
farms 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
not 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
not 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
not 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
not 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
On 
farms 
not 
having 
ma- 
chines. 
Michigan-Ohio and Illinois 
areas: 
26 
54 
16 
4 
6 
18 
25 
7 
20 
34 
6 
8 
29 
10 
6 
Hours. 
18.6 
11.6 
7.8 
15.4 
16.0 
7.3 
7.0 
5.7 
Hours. 
16.9 
17.7 
5.7 
16.0 
12.6 
7.1 
5.6 
Hours. 
73.75 
53.2 
46.0 
36.6 
96.8 
46.1 
40.7 
33.5 
Hours. 
65.6. 
56.8 
49.6 
77.7 
52.9 
52.4 
26.3 
Hours. 
57.2 
53.8 
53.5 
38.0 
65.5 
56.1 
47.3 
39.7 
Hours. 
92.95 
84.5 
85.2 
80.0 
82.0 
82.4 
86.3 
Hours. 
149. 55 
118.6 
107.3 
90.0 
178.3 
109. 5 
95.0 
78.9 
Hours. 
175. 45 
16 to 30 cows 
159.0 
140.5 
New York area: 
15 cows or less 
173.7 
16 to 30 cows 
147.5 
31 to 50 cows 
141.9 
118.2 
1 Cornell Bulletin No. 364 shows that in Delaware County, N. Y., 20 per cent of all the 
labor spent in the care of the herd is furnished by the women and children of the family. 
Proportionately more family labor is furnished on the smaller farms, The larger dairy 
farms are very dependent upon hired labor and it is often found difficult to secure 
sufficient help. 
Men who are hired by periods of a month or longer are commonly employed in the 
care of the dairy and to milk. The average wages paid to this class of labor were very 
uniform in all the areas included in the study, and were as follows : In New York, $28 per 
month ; in Illinois, $29.50 per month ; and in the Michigan-Ohio area, $28.85 per month. 
The unmarried farm worker was furnished with his board, and the married man with a 
house, wood, milk, etc. Other investigations carried on by the Office of Farm Management 
show that the value of a farm worker's board is approximately $12 per month. The 
value of a tenant house, wood, milk, etc., furnished to the married farm hand is con- 
sidered about equal to the value of board. 
The total average value of wages and board is therefore $40.75 for all the areas. 
There are 26 working days per month. It is estimated that the dairyman works 12 
hours each working day. He also works 4| hours on Sunday. This makes a total of 330 
hours per month. The cost per hour of labor figured on this basis is 0.123 cent. 
2 The exact dates of stabling cattle in the fall and turning them out to pasture in the 
spring vary with the season and the practice of the individual dairyman. Cattle are com- 
monly stabled from approximately November 1 until May 15, a period of 200 days. The 
balance of the year (165 days) they are on pasture. 
05409°— Bull. 423—16 2 
