36 
BULLETIN 1000, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
BARLEY. 
For best results barley must be sown in a well-prepared seed bed. 
and consequently the land is generally plowed for this crop. The 
percentages of the land plowed for barley on the farms from which 
records for this crop are available are as follows: Minnesota, 87; 
North Dakota, 97; Wisconsin, 86; New York, 50. Variations in 
labor requirements are due chiefly to the different sizes of machines 
and power units used in different sections. It will be noted (Table 
24) that in North Dakota there are oyer three horse hours per man 
hour, while in New York the ratio is about 1 :1 J. 
Barley stands up well and is for this reason very popular as a nurse 
crop for grass seeding. When so used it is customary to sow less 
seed than usual per acre. In Wisconsin, for instance, where 43 per 
cent of the total barley acreage covered in this investigation was 
seeded to grass, the records show that about one-fourth bushel less 
seed than usual was sown per acre when used as a nurse crop. The 
fact that barley is often handled in a special way for the good of the 
grass seeding should be borne in mind when comparing its profitable- 
ness with that of other farm crops. 
The differences in labor requirements for harvesting and thrashing 
barley are largely due to the variations in size of machinery used. 
The harvest labor requirement of barley is slightly lower than that 
of oats, for the reason that the barley produces less straw, stands 
better, and thrashes faster. In North Dakota 81 per cent of the 
crop was thrashed by contract; that is, all or a part of the crew was 
furnished by the thrasher. On these farms the harvest labor per 
acre was 1.8 man-hours and 3.4 horse-hours, as compared with 4.1 
man-hours and 6.5 horse-hours per acre on farms where the entire 
crew was furnished by the farm operator. 
Table 24. — Barley: Labor and material requirements per acre {154 records). 
Yield 
per 
acre. 
Man labor. 
Horse labor. 
Twine. 
Per 
cent of 
,Num- 
Region, fe? 
; ords. 
Prior 
to 
har- 
vest. 
Har- 
vest. 
Total. 
Prior 
to 
har- 
vest. 
2Eh** 
Seed. 
Ferti- 
lizer. 
Fuel 
(coal). 
opera- 
ting ex- 
pense 
covered 
by fore- 
going.o 
Minnesota 61 
Bush. 
23.8 
27.3 
32.4 
20.7 
Hrs. 
4.7 
6.4 
6.9 
2.8 
Hrs. 
6.0 
10.5 
9.6 
2.2 
Hrs. 
10.7 
16.9 
16.5 
5.0 
Hrs. 
17.3 
18.6 
14.6 
13.1 
Hrs. 
7.8 
8.7 
7.8 
4.0 
Hrs. 
25.1 
27.3 
22.4 
17.1 
Bush. 
2.0 
1.7 
2.1 
1.8 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
2.3 
2.2 
2.7 
1.8 
73 
Wisconsin 37 
New York 9 
North Dakota . . 47 
195.6" 
49.7 
77.6 
75 
75 
59 
Excluding interest on land. 
