NORMAL DAY S WORK FOR VARIOUS FARM OPERATIONS. 
29 
Table XXVIII. — A normal day's work in mowing, raking, tedding, and cocking hay, 
giving the average acreages reported for sizes most frequently used, adjustments for these 
sizes, and allowances deduced for other sizes. 
[Net hours in the field: For mowing, 9.52; for raking, 8.44; for tedding, 8.26; and for cocking, 9.12.] 
Operation. 
Most 
common 
width. 
Number 
of horses. 
Acreage 
per day. 
Number 
averaged. 
Adjusted 
acreage. 
Other 
reported 
widths. 
Allowance 
for other 
widths 
per foot. 
Feet. 
5 
8 
10 
6 
10 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
8.85 
11.99 
17.91 
9.75 
15.88 
6.29 
1,251 
238 
885 
36 
113 
1,122 
8.0 
10.8 
17.0 
8.7 
14.3 
5.7 
Feet. 
4-7 
6-12 
8-16 
5-10 
6-12 
Acres. 
1.70 
.75 
Tedding 
.80 
.65 
Cocking (1 man) 
.85 
In hauling hay from windrows to barn, using a hay loader in the 
field, 36 per cent of farmers do the work with three men, 23 per cent 
with two men, and 14 per cent with four men, while much smaller 
percentages use larger crews. It also appears that two horses are 
used by 38 per cent and four horses by 31 per cent, while 42 per cent 
use an 8-foot, 17 per cent the 6-foot, and 15 per cent the 10-foot 
loader. From analytical tables it was also evident that the odd man 
in three and five man crews adds very little to the amount accom- 
plished daily, and also that the hay sling or fork increases the 
efficiency of the equipment from 30 to 40 per cent. Increases in the 
number of men or horses are not attended by proportional increases 
in the amount of work done, the smaller units being most efficient. 
A relative decrease in efficiency per man or per horse with an increas- 
ing size of crew is uniformly found in all of the tables for crew work. 
In this operation the duty of a man with the organization stated is 
from 1.5 to 2.5 acres daily when unloading by hand and from 2.25 to 
3 acres when unloading with sling or hay fork. The 2-horse and 
4-horse crews are most efficient from the standpoint of total acreage 
cleared daily, odd horses adding very little to the efficiency of the 
organization. Those crews having only two men appear to be most 
effective, owing probably to having the proprietor to set the pace, 
while the larger crews give opportunity for lost motion through help 
working only for wages and the limited ability of the average farmer 
to direct the efforts of others as he can his own. When unloading by 
hand with the equipment under consideration, the duty of each horse 
is from 1.75 to 2.25 acres, and when the sling is used this duty should 
be raised to from 2.5 to 3.5 acres per horse per day. Each foot in width 
of loader should cover from 0.70 to 1 acre when the loads are thrown 
off by hand and from 1 to 1.4 acres when unloading with sling or 
hay fork. In the operation of haying, for distances under 200 rods, 
the tabulation of the data by distance hauled shows no relation 
between distance from stack or barn and the acreage cleared in a 
day. 
