BULLETIN 1292, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
climate, and rainfall are all similar to those of section No. 2. 
'he principal crops in 1910, according to census figures, were cotton, 
corn, and oats. In 1920, a decrease in both the cotton and corn 
acreage was shown, and cowpeas were grown on a larger acreage than 
were oats. 
CREW PERFORMANCE 
The number of men and mules used to handle a single inpl ement, 
or piece of equipment, or the number of men used for an operation 
performed by hand, is termed a crew. For example, one man and, 
one mule at plowing or breaking would be a crew, and if in siding two 
outfits were at work, each would be a crew. Crew performance is 
the amount of work which a crew does in a given time — in 10 hours 
for example. The performance of crews of the same size will neces- 
sarily vary, often to a marked degree, on different farms in the same 
area. Some factors, affecting crew performance are type of soil, 
topography, weather, size and shape of fields, length of rows, ter- 
races, stumps and stones, size of implement, size of mules, and type 
of labor. 
AVERAGE AMOUNT OF LABOR PER ACRE ON DIFFERENT CROPS 
A summary of the average number of hours of man and mule labor 
used per acre on the different crops for which information was 
obtained is given in Table 1. Every operation from preparing the 
land to the final disposition of the crop is included in these figures. 
From this table, a comparison of the total hours reported for different 
crops or different combinations of crop can be made. The number 
of reports corresponds in every case to the number of men inter- 
viewed who grew the crop during the year covered by the investiga- 
tion. The hours per acre represent the average time spent by the 
men who grew the crop, irrespective of the number and character of 
operations performed. 
Table 1. — Average man and mule labor per acre used for different crops 
Crop 
Cotton 
Corn 
Corn, velvet beans, and 
peanuts 
Corn and peas 
Peanuts (alone) 1 
Hours per acre 
Number 
of 
reports 
1 
Man 
Mule 
132.5 
36.3 
59.6 
32.6 
249 
250 
37.1 
37.7 
29.4 
33.7 
33.9 
22.8 
89 
124 
79 
Crop 
Sweet potatoes. 
Sugarcane (plant)... 
Sugarcane (stubble) . 
Cowpeas 
Oats, wheat, and rye 
Watermelons— 
Hours per acre 
Man 
Mule 
131.0 
66.4 
282.9 
182. 3 
216.4 
130.3 
20.3 
23.8 
18.4 
23.0 
55.3 
52.4 
Number 
of 
reports 
32 
10 
106 
202 
i Hogged off. 
There are certain crop operations, make-up and size of crew, 
implements, width of rows, and number of furrows that are common 
in different areas. When only the principal operations are considered, 
the hours per acre for man and mule labor are lower. Table 2 
shows the principal operations for cotton,- corn, peanuts, sweet pota- 
toes, sugarcane, cowpeas, watermelons, and oats, wheat, and rye. 
