BULLETIN 423, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table II. — Relation between man labor employed, size of dairy herds, and use 
of mechanical milkers. 
Number of herds of Number of men em- 
Number of dairv 
Number of dairy- 
each size. 1 ployed per farm. 
cows per farm. 
cows per man. 
Area and size of herd. 
| 1 
1 
On farms ■ On farms , On farms . On farms 
On farms On farms 
On farms 
On farms 
with 1 without 1 with | without 
with | without 
with 
without 
machines, machines, machines. 
1 1 
machines. 
machines, machines. 
machines. 
machines. 
Michigan-Ohio and 
Illinois area: 
15 cows or less 
26 
20 
1.68 
1.47 
12.3 
11.35 
7.3 
7.7 
16 to 30 cows 
54 
34 
2.19 
2.33 
22.9 
22.8 
10.4 
9.8 
31 to 50 cows 
16 
6 
2.51 
3.29 
36.4 
38.3 
14.5 
11.6 
51 or more cows . . 
13 
3.73 
55.0 
14.7 
New York area: 
15 cows or less 
6 
8 
1.0 
1.51 
10.3 12.9 
9.95 
8.5 
16 to 30 cows 
18 
29 
1.59 
1.91 
21.4 | 23.1 
13.5 
12.1 
31 to 50 cows 
25 
10 
2.38 
2.5 
40.6 42.0 
17.1 
16.8 
51 or more cows . . 
26 3 5 
2.66 
3.82 
68. 2 72. 
21.9 
18.8 
1 One farm in this group peddled milk in town and required extra labor: therefore it was not used in this 
table. 
2 One farm in this group made butter, which raised the labor requirement of the farm. The report was 
not used in this table. 
3 On a farm in this group only a small proportion of the cows kept were milked. The report was excluded 
from this table. 
Table II also shows, under the heading " Number of men em- 
ployed," that for herds of the same size slightly less labor is 
employed on farms where the milking machine is used. This is true 
in both Xew York and the Central States. In both sections those 
farms using milking machines kept about two more cows per man. 
The column headed " Number of dairy cows per man " refers to the 
number of cows kept for each man employed on the farm throughout 
the year. It is shown that the farms having larger herds keep more 
cows in proportion to the labor employed. 
The amount of labor required to care for the herd and the period 
of the year when the labor demands are greatest are important fac- 
tors in determining the labor available for other farm work. In the 
areas which were covered by this study it is the common practice to 
maintain the herds on pasture during the growing season, which may 
be roughly defined as between May 15 and November 1. During this 
period the cows demand little attention other than that required in 
getting them up to milk and turning them back to the pasture again, 
both night and morning. On most farms they are given supple- 
mentary feeds during the late summer, but this is usually in the form 
of grain which can be fed in a few minutes when the herd is in the 
stable. Occasionally some roughage is fed also. This consists mostly 
of green corn cut and fed in the pasture lot or stable, which opera- 
tion takes considerable extra time. The time taken to feed in the 
summer, however, is offset by the fact that in those herds where feed- 
ing is practiced the cattle come for their feed at milking time, while 
in the case of the herd not fed it is necessary to go after them. 
From November 1 to May 15 the cattle are stabled, and during the 
period they require considerable attention. In addition to feeding 
