26 
BULLETIN 1258, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table 26. — Variations in number of acres of corn per work animal. 
[Figures in parentheses show number of farms having tractors.] 
Number of farms— 
1910 
1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
4 andless 
13 
63 
24 
11 
59 
27 
3 
7 
62 
30 
1 
8 
61 
29 
2 
6 
59 
30 
4(2) 
1 
8 
54 
28(1) 
8(4) 
2(2) 
8 
62(3) 
28(4) 
2(1) 
4 
5to9 
61(2) 
31(6) 
4(2) 
10tol4.__ 
15 to 19 
20 to 24 
1 
The farms producing more acres of corn per work animal also 
were producing more acres of small grains, and of clover and timothy, 
per work animal. They had more productive animal units per 
work animal and were better equipped with machinery. (See 
Table 27.) 
Table 27. — Acres of crops and value of machinery per work animal. 
Per work animal. 
Acres of corn per work animal. 
Corn i Sn ! a11 
grains. 
Clover 
and 
timothy. 
Machin- 
ery. 
Average of 1910, and 1913-1915: 
4andless . ... . ... 
Acres. 
4 
7 
11 
16 
3 
8 
12 
16 
Acres. 
5 
6 
8 
13 
3 
6 
8 
12 
Acres. 
5 
6 
7 
12 
3 
6 
7 
6 
Dollars. 
85 
5 to 9 
86 
10 to 14 
92 
15 to 19 
108 
Average of 1916-1919: 
4andless . .. 
84 
5 to 9 
99 
10tol4 
119 
15 to 19 
167 
While some of these variations no doubt were explained by the 
quality of the work animals, by the fact that some work animals were 
also brood mares, or that some farms did considerable outside team 
work, they suggest the importance of efficiency in the use of work 
animals. The more successful farms produced 1.7 acres more of 
corn per work animal on the average than the less successful farms. 
There were varying degrees of reduction in number of work animals 
on farms after getting tractors; but for all 10 of the farms which had 
tractors, the average size was 267 acres before using tractors and 
279 acres after, while the number of work animals averaged 9 per 
farm before using tractors and 7 after tractors were bought. An 
average of 9.1 acres of corn per work animal was produced on these 
farms before using tractors, and 13.6 acres after using them. In 
this connection, it should be stated that fewer farms were using 2-row 
cultivators before using tractors than after using them. 
MAN LABOR. 
There was a yearly average of 19.1 months of man labor per farm 
in the operation of these farms. Twelve months of this was the 
farmer's own labor and management, 2.9 months family labor, and 
4.2 months hired labor. Thus, about three-fourths of the labor in 
operating these farms was performed by the farm operator and 
members of his family and one-fourth was hired. Of the hired 
labor, 76 per cent was regular hired labor on some of the larger farms 
for 7 to 12 months of the year and 24 per cent extra hired labor 
during periods of greatest labor requirement. 
