A STUDY IN THE COST OF PRODUCING MILK. 
11 
The lowest labor requirement per cow is on the Pennsylvania farm, 
where the milk is handled quite efficiently and delivered at a near-by 
railroad station. The fact that the cows receive less individual 
' attention and on the average produce less may have some influence 
in making the labor requirement lower. The use of a milking 
machine during 1913 made the man-labor requirement 38 hours per 
cow less than for 1912. The actual time of milking was reduced 
about one-half. The horse labor, mostly used in delivering milk, 
remained about the same each year. With the exception of the 
Pennsylvania farm, the average man-labor requirement per cow, 
exclusive of marketing, on each of the farms for all years is approxi- 
mately 200 hours. This is equivalent to an average of 33 minutes 
per cow per day, 365 days in the year. 
The hauling of milk to market is a daily operation on each of the 
farms. The hours of labor required per cow for this work varies 
with distance from market, size of the herd, and condition of the 
road. On the Pennsylvania farm it required 13.4 hours of man labor 
for this work as compared to 40.3 hours on the North Carolina farm, 
where less milk was hauled about four times as far. On the Wisconsin 
farm, 1 mile from the creamery, it averaged 16 hours per cow. 
It is of interest to compare the man-labor requirement on the 
North Carolina farm in 1914 with other years. For nine months of 
this year the milk was retailed in the same city where it had previously 
been sold in bulk to a dealer. The actual hours of man labor required 
at the farm increased from an average of 222 hours per cow to 358 
hours. This increase of 136 hours represents mainly the increased 
labor for extra handling and bottling the milk and caring for equip- 
ment put in use when the change was made to selling at retail. The 
time spent in marketing increased from 40 hours to 149 hours per 
cow. The horse-labor requirements increased in like proportion. 
Table VIII gives the wage rates per hour for man and horse labor 
that were used in charging each herd for labor. The average rate 
per hour of man labor varied from 9 cents on the North Carolina 
farm, where the wages paid hired labor were low (about $20 per 
month with board and lodging), to nearly 14 cents on the Wisconsin 
farm, where more efficient men were paid wages that averaged about 
$32, with board and lodging. 
Table VIII. — Cost per hour of man 
and of horse labor on 
the four farms 
Year. 
Wisconsin 
farm— rate per 
hour. 
Michigan 
farm— rate per 
hour. 
Pennsylvania 
farm— rate per 
hour. 
North Caro.ina 
farm— rate per 
hour. 
Man. 
horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
Man. 
Horse. 
1909 
Cents. 
13.3 
14.2 
13.6 
13.6 
Cents. 
10.0 
8.9 
7.9 
7.9 
Cents. 
12 
12 
12 
12 
Cents. 
8 
8 
8 
8 
Cents. 
Cents. 
Cents. 
Cents. 
1910 
1911 
9„L 
9.0 
10.4 
7 7 
1912 
12.9 
13.9 
11.8 
8.8 
■ 8 
1913 
8 
