REQUIREMENTS OF FIELD CROPS. 17 
Table 9. — Potatoes: Labor arid material requirements per acre {461 records, 1919). 
Region. 
Minnesota: 
Clay County . . . 
Anoka County. 
Wisconsin: 
Barron County. 
Waunaca Coun- 
ty.*. 
Michigan: 
M ont ca 1 m 
County 
Grand Traverse 
County 
New York: 
Steuben Coun- 
ty 
Monroe County 
Maine: 
Aroostook 
County 
Num 
ber 
of rec- 
ords. 
Yield 
per 
acre 
Bush. 
103 
104 
152 
123 
109 
124 
141 
110 
254 
Man labor. 
Prior 
to har- 
vest. 
Hrs. 
18.3 
34.9 
47.6 
41.7 
40.1 
49.9 
40.8 
47.9 
50.4 
Har- 
vest. 
Hrs. 
b 10. 9 
28.8 
45.1 
35.7 
33.8 
40.3 
46.3 
37.7 
27.2 
Total. 
Hrs. 
&29.2 
63.7 
92.7 
77.4 
73.9 
90.2 
87.1 
85.6 
&77.6 
Horse labor. 
Prior 
to har- 
vest. 
Hrs. 
46.1 
60.3 
61.5 
46.3 
54.8 
54.4 
58.4 
71.1 
Har- 
vest. 
Hrs. 
19.6 
26.6 
38.8 
30.9 
30.7 
23.6 
40.0 
39.5 
38.9 
Total. 
Hrs. 
65.7 
86.9 
100.3 
77.2 
85.5 
78.0 
98.4 
116.0 
110.0 
Seed. 
bush. 
12.3 
9.5 
11.6 
10.6 
7.7 
11.3 
11.2 
13.2 
14.0 
Ma- 
nure. 
Tons. 
2.3 
6.0 
7.1 
5.5 
6.0 
5.0 
4.5 
7.1 
2. 
Fer- 
tili- 
zer. 
Lbi. 
( c ) 
( c ) 
( c ) 
( c ) 
1, 965 
Percent 
of oper- 
ating 
ex- 
pense a 
covered 
by fore- 
going. 
74.5 
77.2 
80.7 
80.4 
81.2 
81.2 
83.5 
a Excluding interest on land. 
6 Picking not included in time for harvesting and total hours. 
c Commercial fertilizers not generally used. 
Since picking was not included in the time for harvesting in all 
areas, the harvest labor as well as the total man labor appears com- 
paratively low for Clay County, Minn., and Aroostook County, Me. 
In both of these districts the potatoes were picked largely by contract. 
Considerable variation was found in the labor requirements for the 
same operation in different areas. For example, in Clay County, 
Minn., two-row cultivators are not uncommon and man-labor-saving 
machinery can be used to good advantage, while in some of the 
districts potatoes are planted and dug by hand. 
Commercial fertilizer was not used extensively outside of the 
Maine area. The lowest application noted in this area was 1,333 
pounds per acre and the highest was 2,800. The use of manure was 
common to all areas. With the exception of two districts, namely, 
Clay County, Minn., and Aroostook County, Me., over 75 per cent 
of the potato acreage was manured. 
There was quite a wide range in the quantity of seed potatoes 
used in these districts. The five farms using the least seed in Mont- 
calm County, Mich., used an average of 5.7 bushels of seed per acre, 
while in Barron County, Wis., the five farms using the most seed 
averaged 16.2 bushels per acre. When seed is high in price, this 
item is exceedingly important from a cost standpoint. 
The per cent of total operating expense represented by the factors 
which are included in Table 9 varied on the average from 74.5 in 
Anoka County, Minn., to 83.5 in Aroostook County, Me. 
60765°— 21— Bull. 1000 3 
