A STUDY OF FARM ORGANIZATION IN CENTRAL KANSAS 
33 
REASONS OF VARIATION IN LABOR REQUIREMENTS FOR CORN OPERATIONS 
PRIOR TO HARVEST 
On two farms the corn was planted with a 2-row planter after the 
land had been plowed and harrowed. On the other farms practically 
all of the corn was planted with a 1-row lister and a 4-horse team. 
Farm 1, having second to the lowest man-labor requirements for this 
operation, used a 2-row lister and 5 horses part of the time. The 
use of a 1-row sled for part of the sledding on farm 8 was partly 
responsible for the high man-labor requirement. A 1-horse culti- 
vator was used for a part of the cultivating on farm 15. The corn- 
land on farm 17 was broken out of prairie sod in the fall and early 
spring, and the listing could not be done so rapidly as in the stubble 
or stalk ground. This farm had the highest requirements for listing 
corn. 
Farms 4, 1, 8, 18, and 2, with the largest acreages of corn, with the 
addition of farm 10, had the lowest requirements for listing. Farms 
MAN HOURS 
PER ACRE 
LABOR HOURS IN SLEDDING CORN 
HORSE HOURS PER ACRE 
FARM 
NO. 
4- 
I 
15 
13 
2 
12 
7 
16 
17 
18 
14 
I I 
8 
3 
10 
HOURS 
.56 
.67 
.68 
.69 
.78 
.79 
.80 
.8 1 
.85 
.9 1 
.98 
.99 
.1.19 
1.52 
1.62 
y 
2.2.2. 
2.68 
2.71 
2.96 
3.12 
3.16 
3.21 
3.25 
3.40 
3.63 
3.94 
395 
3.33 
6.08 
6.47 
WEIGHTED 
AVERAGE 
3.20 
\y 
Fig. 19. — Listed corn is usually sledded twice, the dirt being thrown out the first time and thrown in 
with the second sledding. Sledding is usually done with four horses and a 2-row sled. On farm 8 a 
part of the sledding was done with two horses and a 1-row sled 
1 and 4 were also lowest on requirements for sledding. Farm 16, 
with next to the smallest acreage in corn, had the highest acre require- 
ments for cultivating and next to the highest for listing, while 
farm 10, with the smallest acreage, had the highest requirement for 
sledding and next to the highest for cultivating. 
The use of a boy and a 1-row sled is one cause for the high sledding 
and cultivating requirements on farm 8. 
Three of the five farms having the highest total labor requirements 
prior to harvesting the corn were the only ones on which the corn 
was cultivated twice and sledded twice. The other two farms in the 
group of five having the highest labor requirements plowed all of the 
land before planting and did more harrowing than most of the other 
farms. On farm 14, which had the lowest total labor requirements, 
listing, sledding once, and cultivating once were the only operations 
performed. 
1816°— 25 1- 
