6 BULLETIN 3, XT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and principles not generally available and often not recognized by 
those giving the basic information can be deduced from records 
obtained from farmers. All of the subsequent tables in this bulletin 
were obtained by taking advantage of this principle. A circular of 
inquiry covering practically all of the operations of farming was mailed 
to 25,000 selected farmers distributed throughout every State and 
Territory. The form was so prepared that every controlling condition 
affecting any operation, such as the working size of the implement, 
width, depth, power used, bulk handled, etc., was given blank space 
to be filled in by each farmer according to his practice and the local 
conditions with which he was familiar. The answers, therefore, 
as a whole represented the best judgment in the light of long experi- 
ence of those who cooperated by sending in replies. Incidentally, 
since the method permitted each correspondent to record his own 
local practice, much supplemental information relating to farm equip- 
ment and farm management not contemplated by the inquiry was 
furnished. These features are discussed in connection with the respec- 
tive tables. The figures represent averages of general conditions 
in the United States. No attempt has been made to classify the 
material according to geographic divisions. It is fully realized as 
regards certain farm operations that the averages of the farmers' 
estimates from the several agricultural regions are not strictly appli- 
cable to any particular district. When sufficient data are obtained 
from each distinct region, complete tables will be compiled that will 
take into account differences existing in the time requirements for 
the several farm operations. 
On account of certain conditions affecting the method by which 
the data in the following tables were obtained, it is believed that 
many of the averages are too high. While an equal number of inquir- 
ies were sent to each State in the Union, the majority of the replies 
came from the North-Central States, where climate, topography, and 
short seasons tend relatively to increase the daily duty for farm 
workmen beyond the average. Again, in making estimates of this 
character, the human tendency to recall only the exceptionally large 
day's work rather than the unnoticed normal, or average, would also 
operate to raise the figures. A third influence tending to raise the 
estimates would be the natural desire of the correspondent to report 
a generous amount of work as within his own capacity. Still a fourth 
influence would be the desire to set high standards for hired help. 
On account of these biased influences, which are all one sided, it was 
deemed advisable in presenting the original data of the tables to 
also include adjustments representing considerable reductions from 
the reported averages, since for the practical purposes to which these 
tables will be put it is wiser to use factors which are too low than to 
make farm plans with factors that are too high. Reductions from 
