40 BULLETIN ilo, U. S. DEPARTMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
difficulty is experienced in getting around, the crew, in order to be 
worked successfully as a unit, should be small; but in open, rather 
gently rolling country, much larger forces may be worked and still 
be given the supervision necessary. 
If possible, local men should be employed in the work. As a rule, 
they are not only more industrious than the transient laborers but 
more efficient, and they take an interest in the success of the opera- 
tion. If the same men can be secured year after year, it will be 
foimd that they will become more rapid and efficient and more and 
more interested in the success of each year's operations. Men con- 
tinuoush^ indifferent or careless, who evince no disposition to improve, 
should be dismissed from the crew. 
The wages will necessarily have to follow pretty closely those 
offered for other classes of work in the region. A graduated scale 
will sometimes prove effective in holding men for a longer period 
than they would otherwise stay. Thus they may be paid at the rate 
of $2 per day if they work for from one to two weeks, $2.25 if they 
stay for from two to four weeks, and $2.50 if they remain until the 
work is finished. If it can be avoided, wages should not be at the 
rate of so much per day and board, or at least the board should be 
deducted for days or portions of days that the men do not work. If 
this precaution is not taken, there will be found men in nearly any 
camp who will lay off from work at the slightest provocation as 
long as they obtain free meals. 
Assignment of Crew. 
In seed spotting, where a portion of the crew prepares the spots 
and the other portion sow the seed, it is almost always true that one 
man sowing can keep pace with two or more men preparing spots. 
On the Arapaho National Forest, the ideal crew .is considered to be 
2 seeders to 10 men with hoes. One of the seeders is in charge of the 
crew and keeps the men moving. They are worked in just as long 
rows as can be laid out across the seeding areas in order as much as 
possible to avoid the delay which occurs each time that a crew 
reaches the end of a row. Following this S3^stem, a crew of 12 men 
average from 2,200 to 2.300 spots each per day. On the Black Hills 
National Forest it has been found that if each man prepares seed 
spots and sows the seed also, about one-fourth more ground can be 
covered per day than with any other scheme tried there. 
In planting, crews are worked in a number of different ways. 
"When the field-trencher method of planting is followed, two men 
handle the team and plow and pay attention to getting the rows 
spaced properly and j^arallel to each other. They are followed 
closel}' hj the teamster with the trencher, who takes care that the 
