BULLETIN 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 
September 23, 1913. 
A NORMAL DAY'S WORK FOR VARIOUS FARM 
OPERATIONS. 
By H. H. Moot, 
Assistant Agriculturist, Office of Farm -Management, Bureau of Plant Industry. 
INTRODUCTION. 
In order that farm work may be planned in advance or performed 
properly from season to season, it is essential to know what may 
fairly be expected daily of a workman for each kind of work, of any 
kind and size of implement, of each unit of power, and of any prac- 
ticable combination of power, workmen, and tools. Data of this 
character are peculiarly valuable when a new and unfamiliar enter- 
prise is to be undertaken by the farmer, and particularly where a 
par-rial or general reorganization of the farm business is contemplated. 
Such data are also necessary to insure that adequate labor and equip- 
ment are provided for and that the former is occupied to its fullest 
extent throughout the season, to determine the feasibility of a crop- 
ping system or rotation, to plan a practicable distribution of labor, 
and to insure that normal daily efficiency is secured from man and 
horse or to make certain that they are not overtaxed. The imme- 
diate demand that at least general averages of this character be made 
available for the farm-reorganization work of the Office of Farm 
Management has resulted in the accumulation of the data presented 
in the folio whig pages. Since the normal daily efficiency of equip- 
ment and workmen is an element or factor both of the planning and 
execution of farm work, the average or normal day's work for each 
operation is referred to in the text and tables as a " daily factor." 
RELATION OF FARM EQUIPMENT TO FARM MANAGEMENT. 
From the practical standpoint, each individual farm must be con- 
sidered as a business entity as well as a physical unit, and farm man- 
agement is concerned with the planning, adjustment, and seasonal 
manipulation of the elements of farm production (land, crops, live 
stock, labor, tools, and structures), so that all will mutually operate 
5774°— Bui. 3—13 1 
