INPUT AS RELATED TO OUTPUT 
13 
" curvilinear " 9 correlation analysis will have to be employed at 
times. The following study suggests one method of attack. * Table 
11 gives the variations in labor per acre on 67 farms in Minnesota in 
1919. Figure -1 presents the frequency diagram for the same data. 
The average input, 4.48 hours per acre, is a little higher than the 
modal input, 1.17 hours. 
Table 11. — Range in man labor used per acre of wheat prior to harvest on 67 
farms, Clay and Traverse Counties, Minn., 1921 1 
Man hours per acre 
| Number 
of farms 
Man hours per acre 
Number 
of farms 
2.0 to 2.9. 
5.0 to 3.9. 
_■ 
1 
24 
60 to 6.9 
4 
7.0 to 7.9 
8.0 to 8.9 
2 
4.0 to 4.9. 
29 
1 
5.0 to 5.9. 
""- 1 5 
9.0 and over.. 
1 
i From data obtained by the Division of Cos: of Production, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, in a 
survey studv. Reports published in Bulletin 943. U. S. Department of Agriculture: Cost of Producing 
Wheat, by M. R. Cooper and R. S. Washburn, 1921. 
It would be expected that the farmers using more labor per acre 
would perform more tillage operations. But, contrary to expecta- 
tions. Table 12 indicates that the farmers employing twice as much 
labor per acre perform practically the same number of operations 
as those using less. 
Table 12. — Tillage operations performed on wheat land, by hours of man 
labor per acre 
Man-hours per acre (prior to harvest) 
Number of times over 
Number Harrowing spike- 
of farms t00th 
Disking 
Before 
seeding 
After 
seeding 
Once 
over 
Lapping 
one-half 
All farms - - .--. .-. . 
67 
11 
13 
14 
15 
5 
4 
1.66 
1.83 
1.56 | 
1.5S 
1.82 
1.70 | 
1.50 
0.53 
.36 
.46 
.79 
.40 
.60 
1.00 
0.21 
.27 
.54 
.21 
.23 
.50 
.40 
0.16 
3.0 to 3.4 . 
.12 
3.5 to 3.9 
.04 
4.0 to 4.4 
.05 
4.5 to 4.9 
.29 
5.0 to 5.9 
.04 
6.0 to 6.9 
.08 
Table 13 indicates that there is a tendency for the farmers in the 
higher groups to use more labor per operation. Thus in the group 
using 5 to 6 hours per acre an average of about one-quarter more 
time was spent in performing each operation than in the group using 
3 to oj hours. Wide variations in the time spent in performing 
individual operations must be expected. Tables 11 and 15 show the 
variations for man labor used on plowing and other operations. 
Similar variations were found for horse labor. Figure 5 presents 
these data graphically. The variations in the requirements for some 
operations — cleaning seed, for example — are much more marked than 
for others, such as plowing. In each case there are variations of at 
least 100 per cent from the smallest report. 
See Statistical Methods for explanation of this term. 
