42 BULLETIX 1348, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTUKE 
which more than make up for the higher cost of the power used. 
(See Department of Agriculture Circular 183, "Seedtime and Har- 
vest/"' and Yearbook Separate 825, " The Horsepower Problem on 
the Farm.") 
Table XVIII shows the average percentage of the total year's 
work done each month for aU types of farming in each State as 
estunated by crop reporters of the division of crop and livestock 
estimates. Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and the foUoTving is a 
classification of the principal farm operations requiring power, with 
respect to the time the}^ must or may be done : 
Work that must be done at a definite time: 
Spring plowing; seed-bed preparation; seeding; cultivating: 
harvesting small grain, tame hay, and other perishable or 
seasonable crops, shock tln-esliing; cutting corn and fiUing silo: 
marketing perishable or seasonal products; spraying crops; 
emergency repairs of equipment; regular care of livestock: 
most household operations for which power is used. 
Work that may be done witliin seasonal lunits : 
Most fall plowing ; harvesting ^^ild hay and other nonperishable 
crops; husking; sheUing and shi^edding corn; stack or barn 
threshing; baling hay; grinding, grading, and cleaning grain; 
shearing sheep; pruning trees; marketing hvestock; hauling 
feed, fertilizer, and most general supplies. 
Work that may be done at any time duiing the year: 
Marketing nonperishable products; general hauhng: cutting 
wood; grinding limestone; general repair work- on equipment: 
most building construction. 
Work that may be done while ground is wet : 
Harvesting most crops; shelling or slii'edding corn; filling silo: 
cutting wood: pruning trees; marketing crops and livestock 
products, and general hauling. 
Work requiring fairly dry ground: 
All tillage operations; most seeding operations; harvesting hav 
and crops grown underground; stacking and threshing small 
grain. 
Work that can not be done while ground is frozen : 
All tillage, seeding, cultivating, and harvesting operations ex- 
cept husking corn. 
FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFICIENT UTILIZATION OF POWER 
AND LABOR ON FARMS 
As previously mentioned, the most serious factor affecting the ef- 
ficient utilization of power and labor on farms is the extreme sea- 
sonal demand of many of the farm operations. Other factors that 
have an important effect on the efficiency are : The diversity of opera- 
tions on any given farm; the short periods during which the ma- 
jority of the individual operations are carried on in a year; the low 
load factor, that is, the small percentage of time a large part of 
the power equipment is in use during the year; and the small size 
of the power unit commonly under the control of one worker. 
The diversity of farm operations, together with the short time 
the majority of these various operations are carried on, prevents the 
most efficient utilization of power and labor because of the time lost 
in getting each new operation under way, owing to the necessity of 
