48 
BULLETIN 760, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 
distribution of profitable labor throughout the year. The develop- 
ment of a sound cropping system at the same time would increase 
yields by adding humus to the soil. 
LABOR REQUIREMENTS. 
It has already been pointed out that the sugar beet is an intensive 
crop and requires a great amount of labor, some of which is hired 
and paid on a contract basis. In discussing labor requirement, the 
cash amount paid out for contract labor has been converted to man- 
hours, using a rate of 25 cents per hour. It is generally conceded 
that the expert labor that contracts this work receives a higher wage 
per hour than the regular farm labor. ( See Table XXXII. ) 
Table XXXII. — Labor requirements in producing an acre of sugar beets. 
Acres, 
grown. 
Hours of man labor. 
Total hours per 
acre. 
District. 
Farmers' 
labor. 
Contract. 
Man 
labor. 
Horse 
labor. 
Machine 
opera- 
tions. 
Contract 
price. 
Equiva- 
lent 
hours. 
7,711.5 
2,811.0 
3, 616. 
27.7 
20.2 
25.7 
S15. 01 
14.82 
18.87 
60.0 
59.3 
75.5 
87.7 
79.5 
101.2 
109 3 
Oxnard 
111.5 
124 3 
In these three districts all of the hand labor was done on a contract 
basis. The machine operations are given separately so that the reader 
may see the relation between this part and the total man labor. The 
number of man hours per acre expended at Oxnard is considerably 
less than for the other two areas, since the yield at Oxnard is the 
lowest and irrigation was not practiced in this area. 
The horse labor necessary to produce an acre of sugar beets was 
fairly uniform at Los Angeles and Oxnard, but slightly greater at 
Salinas, where, on account of the character of the soil, the work is 
heavier, and larger teams are used, than in the other areas. 
The cash paid out for contract labor was almost $3 per acre more 
at Salinas than anywhere else. For the most part the contract labor 
at Salinas includes not only the cost of irrigation water but also the 
man labor necessary to do this work. When the cost of irrigation is 
deducted from the contract labor cost, there is no very wide variation 
in the amount paid out for contract labor in the three areas. 
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