34 
BULLETIN 1296, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
REASON FOR VARIATION IN LABOR REQUIREMENTS FOR HARVESTING OPERATIONS 
The man labor and horse work used per acre for husking corn from 
standing stalks on eight farms are shown in Table 16. 
Table 16. — Requirements of man labor and horse work per acre for corn husked 
from standing stalks, 1922 
Area 
Yield 
per 
acre 
Man labor 
Horse work 
Farm No. 
Total 
prior 
to 
harvest 
Husk- 
ing 
Total 
Total 
prior 
to 
harvest 
Husk- 
ing 
Total 
1. 
Acres 
27 
13 
29 
32 
21 
26 
16 
11 
Bushels 
17 
20 
19 
20 
10 
20 
30 
20 
19.1 
28.9 
Hours 
3.43 
3.65 
6.26 
3.56 
7.16 
6.92 
6.59 
5.27 
5.31 
5.88 
Hours 
3.00 
4.36 
3.58 
7.66 
4.17 
5.20 
10.91 
12.80 
5.87 
6.53 
Hours 
6.43 
8.01 
9.84 
11.22 
11.33 
12.12 
17. 50 
18.07 
11.18 
12.41 
Hours 
12.81 
14.14 
18.63 
13.08 
25.32 
22.54 
19.89 
18.87 
17.90 
19.09 
Hours 
6.00 
8.72 
7.16 
8.57 
5.69 
10.40 
11.35 
13.87 
8.47 
11.61 
Hours 
18.81 
13 
22.86 
6 
25.79 
18 
21.65 
5 -.- 
31.01 
11 
32.94 
8 
31.24 
2 
32.74 
Average: 
175 acres, 1922 
26.37 
533 acres, 1920 
30.70 
Farms of 1, 6, and 5, with the lowest yields per acre, also used the 
least amount of labor for husking. The large amount of labor used 
on farm 8 was largely due to the larger yield on this farm. 
HOURS OF LABOR IN CULTIVATING CORN 
MAN HOURS 
PER ACRE 
I 2 
HORSE HOURS PER ACRE 
1 2 3 A 
1 AVERAGE 
Fig. 20.— A 1-horse walking cultivator was used for cultivating on farm 15. Small acreages were re 
sponsible for the large amount of time used per acre for cultivating on farms 10 and 16 
On farms 2, 8, and 18, using the most man labor, two men were 
used with each team for husking. A part of the husking on farm 
8 and 2 was done by boys, whereas all of the husking on farm 1 was 
done by hired labor. 
In Tables 17 and 18 the labor and horse work used for cutting 
corn and husking it from the shock, or putting it into the silo, are 
summarized. On four farms all of the corn that was cut was fed 
in the bundle without husking, and on two farms practically all of 
the corn grown was put into the silo. 
