30 BULLETIN 735, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
fields at this work. The work of thinning, which requires the worker 
to stoop or crawl along the beet row, is performed by boys or girls 
about 15 years of age, In many cases more efficiently than by men. 
In figuring the costs for this labor, children who are able to do full 
work have been allowed the same rate per hour for labor as men. 
All the labor is estimated on the basis of what a man can do per day. 
There is no indication that men who do their own beet thinning get 
better crops than those who have the thinning done under contract. 
Of the 305 farms in the entire study, on 227 farms a whole or part 
of the hand labor was contracted for at a definite rate per acre for the 
work. The area worked in this manner was 6,399 acres, at a cost to 
the farmer of $18.53 per acre for all hand labor, which includes thin- 
ning, hoeing, topping, etc. On 91 acres the contract was for block- 
ing and thinning only, at an average price of $6.89 per acre. On 1234 
acres the contract was for piling and topping only, at an average 
cost of $9.14 per acre. There were no farms where hoeing was con- 
tracted for as a separate operation. (Table IX.) 
TaBLleE IX.—Average requirements and cost per acre of hand labor on the 
i sugar-beet crop in the Billings region in 1915. 
[Hand labor is figured at 20 cents per hour.] 
Labor done by ; Average for each 
erower. Labor contracted. acre planted. 
Kind of work. 
Hours. Cost. Hours. Cost. Hours. Cost. 
Biloekin sand ithimminegss se) eee 36.9 $7. 38 30.9 $6.18 S282 $6. 45 
IIIS HIN OCLING st spyses eee se 2 eek ogee Saree 15.5 3. 09 10.3 2.06 3H 2.30 
DECOM dun Oe 11 Gee see een Pee ee 7.9 1.59 5S 1.03 5.8 1.16 
Pillmesandato ppin eases eee eee 36.5 7.30 46. 30 9. 26 43. 65 8.73 
| — ee aa ae 
Tabac ae eae [i968 |r 19.96.18 06 G5 ke toss |e oes | 18. 64 
The general impression in the Billings region is that the contract 
laborers get a good price for the work of thinning, topping, etc., but 
the good daily wage is due largely to the fact that they work rapidly 
so as to complete the thinning before the beets are very large, and 
that they work very long days. The thinner averages from 12 to 14 
hours per day; this is especially true of the contract laborers. Some 
of these workers become very expert, being able to block and thin an 
acre of beets in two days; some even exceed this rate. 
Growers who do their own hand labor are in most cases men who 
have large families and who have had experience as contract beet 
workers. They are usually of foreign birth. It is very common for 
a man to come into the region and work a few years as a contract 
laborer and then rent or buy a farm and begin to work for himself. 
These men who are successful in saving enough money to begin farm- 
ing for themselves are usually the most industrious of the contract 
laborers. Having had experience in handling the crop, they usually 
grow rather large acreages of beets. 
