UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
II BULLETIN No. 578 i 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
jUF'&J-t- 
Washington, D. C. 
February 9, 1918 
A STUDY OF HAYMAKING CREWS AND LABOR 
COSTS. 
By H. B. McClure, Agriculturist. 
CONTENTS. 
Scope of bulletin - 2 
Explanation of symbols used in work charts. 3 
Crew capacity 1 4 
Systems of making hay 4 
Hand loading 4 
Page. 
Systems of making hay— Continued. 
■Loading with loader 12 
Stacking with push rakes and stacker ... 22 
Baling from the windrow. 37 
Conclusion. 50 
In considering methods of making hay, the following questions 
arise : What is the best time of day to start mowing hay ? How many 
mowers shall be used, and how many acres is it best to cut each day ? 
How long must the hay lie in the swath before being raked? If a 
side-delivery rake is used, what advantage has it over the sulky rake ? 
How many men are needed to haul in hay from the field, and is it 
more economical with a given acreage to use a hay loader than to 
load by hand? How many men are needed for storing hay in the 
barn or to work on the stack? 
These and similar questions are of importance to American farmers 
in general, since the production of hay is a more or less important 
farm enterprise in most sections of the country, and since the labor 
cost, the largest item of expense in hay production, is largely made 
up of the cost of haymaking. It was to throw light on such questions 
that this study of the common practices of hay growers was made. 
Over 500 farms, in different hay-growing districts, were visited, and 
figures were obtained covering haying operations for timothy, 
timothy and clover, alfalfa, and prairie hay. (See fig. 1.) 
Some farmers, when asked to describe the method used in making 
hay, will reply: "Oh, it is very simple. I just cut the hay down, 
rake it up, and put it in the barn or stack." Such farmers, though 
having a very indefinite method, nevertheless can give the number of 
2586°— 18— Bull. 578 1 
