4 BULLETIN 641, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
owner (though the latter, of course, is also a manager), the results 
obtained show the average labor requirements for each operation. 
Horse labor is fixed at 13 cents an hour. 
LABOR CHARGES FOR DIFFERENT OPERATIONS. 
SEEDING. 
On all the farms studied it is customary either to sow timothy in 
the fall on wheat with clover following in the spring or to sow both 
in the spring with oats, using the grain drill. There is no charge for 
horse labor used, for when seeding is not done by the drill with grain 
it is done by hand, either broadcast or by the use of a mechanical 
seeder, and the seed is sufficiently covered by the spring thaw. 
In the New York area wheelbarrow seeders are used on 17 out of 
the 52 farms and "hand" seeders on 13 farms. The other 22 farms 
sow grass seed and clover in the grain drill with oats. In Pennsyl- 
vania 11 farms use hand seeders and the rest seed broadcast by hand. 
(See Table IV.) 
About the same amount of work can be done per day with each 
method of hand seeding, the average being 16.80 acres for the New 
York farms and 15.50 acres for the Pennsylvania farms. A man can 
seed by hand between 1^ and If acres per hour. The cost of labor 
for seeding, spread over the life of the meadow, is 2 cents per ton 
per year in each State. There is a slight variation in the average life 
of the meadows. 
Table TV. — Cost of hand seeding. 
Item. 
Number seeding by hand 
Average life of meadow, including years used for pasture (years). 
Seeded by hand (acres) 
Tons produced 
Hours of man labor: 
Per day 
Per acre 
Per ton 
Amount seeded: 
Per day (acres). 
Per hour (acres) 
Cost of man labor (at 20 cents per hour): 
Per day 
Per acre 
Per hour 
Cost per year during life of meadow and pasture: 
Per acre 
Per ton 
52 farms in 
Steuben 
County, 
N. Y. 
(25. 
(2. 
30 
3.66 
1,411 
2.116 
9.43 
.561 
.374 
16.80 
20 tons) 
1.76 
67 tons) 
SI. 88 
.122 
.075 
37 farms in 
Washington 
County, 
Pa. 
37 
4.10 
1.411 
2.201 
10.0 
.643 
.412 
15.54 
(24.24 tons) 
1.55 
(2.42 tons) 
S2.00 
.128 
.082 
.031 
.020 
AMOUNT OF SEED GROWN. 
The New York farmers visited sow 2.23 pounds less of timothy 
and 0.62 pound more of clover seed per acre than do the Penn- 
sylvania farmers. The initial cost of seed is practically the same in 
