REQUIREMENTS OF FIELD CROPS. 33 
In Table 21 are summarized the average labor and material 
requirements for all districts. The methods of handling the crop 
showed considerable variation even within the same region. The 
labor requirements represent the prevailing practices on the farms 
that were operated exclusively with horsepower. 
In Thomas and Pawnee Counties, Kans., and Woodward County , 
Okla., the requirements are for headed grain, while in all other dis- 
tricts they are for grain cut with a binder. The labor requirements 
for the two Missouri districts, and Gage and Clay Counties, Nebr., are 
for conditions where all bundle haulers and field pitchers were fur- 
nished by the farmer. In Cheyenne County, Nebr., and for the 
shock thrashing in McPherson County, Kans., the farmer furnished no 
labor except the bundle haulers. In Pawnee County, and for the 
stack thrashing in McPherson County and the two Oklahoma dis- 
tricts, the requirements include no time for thrashing, which was all 
done by contract. 
A division of the labor as to land preparation and seeding, and 
harvesting and marketing, indicates that the man-hours for the 
latter were slightly greater than for the former, while the horse-hours 
for seed-bed preparation and seeding exceeded those required for 
harvesting and marketing in all cases except for volunteer wheat in 
Thomas County, Kans. The man-labor and horse-labor require- 
ments were highest in the two Missouri districts, where a relatively 
large percentage of the acreage was covered with tillage implements 
which were smaller than those used in other districts. Furthermore, 
in Missouri the farmers furnished a greater percentage of the thrashing 
crew. 
The seed requirements per acre were governed mainly by the 
amount of annual rainfall. The rate of seeding ranged from an 
average of 0.74 of a bushel in Thomas County, Kans., a region of 
limited rainfall, co 1.30 bushels in Pike County, Mo., a region of 
abundant rainfall. The acre use of binder twine ranged from an 
average of 1.5 pounds in Pike County, Mo., to 2.5 pounds in Garfield 
County, Okla. 
OATS. 
Oats do not require so loose a seed bed as many of the other farm 
crops, and for this reason they are often sown on corn land without 
plowing. On the farms for which figures are available the following 
percentages of land were plowed: North Dakota, 92; Wisconsin, 80; 
Ohio, 80; Minnesota, 75; New York, 50; Illinois, 11. (See Table 22.) 
