12 
BULLETIN 1296, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
compare their own requirements and determine the effectiveness 
with which they are performing the various operations. In com- 
puting these standards, reasonable allowance is made for time used 
in going to and from fields, adjusting machinery, making necessary 
minor repairs on harness and machinery in the field, and the like, 
which are incident to the operations. 
WHEAT 
Hard winter wheat is produced in McPherson County. Kanred, 
Turkey, Kharkoff, and Black Hull are the most common varieties 
grown. Most of the wheat is seeded on stubble land which was in 
wheat or oats the previous year. This stubble land is practically 
all plowed or listed for wheat.^ Listing is usually done early and, 
because it can be done more rapidly, is sometimes preferred to plowing 
when weather conditions indicate that the soil will dry out rapidly 
LABOR IN PLOWING FOR WHEAT 
FARM , 
NO. HOURS 
FARMS USING HORSES ONLY 
iours per acre: horse hours per acre 
2 4 6 u „„ D cO 2 4 6 8 10 
FARM 
NO. 
2 
12 
I .42 
1.43 
1.45 
1.77 
1.7 9 
1.85 
2.40 
2.75 
3.09 
3.20 
Y'r 
HOURS 
7.09 
7.15 
7.24- 
7.02 
8.70 
9.24 
11.39 
13.37 
12.44 
12.47 
14 
1 1*111 1 
j 
1 WEIGHTED 
Y l 
J.98 
i 
i 
" "M"™"")" , 
FARMS USING HORSES AND TRACTORS 
) 2 
U 
1 .4-9 
1.76 
1.85 
1.97 
2.48 
HORSE TRACTOR 
HOURS HOURS 
HORSE AND TRACTOR HOURS PER ACRE 
2 4 6 8 10 12 
2.2 1 
2.1 8 
3.45 
2.71 
.89 
I .76 
1.30 
1.05 
1.69 
■II 111 1 
SSI Horse 
V7Z\ Tractor 
1 
v////a\ 
, 1,1. 
Fig 
7. — The use of large implements and much power helps to increase the acres that one man can plow 
in a day 
and make it difficult to work. The lister ridges are usually worked 
down with a sled or 2-row cultivator. The land may then be disked 
or given one or two harrowings before it is seeded. An average of 
82 per cent of the acreage on the farms included in this 3-year study 
was plowed, and 12 per cent of the acreage was listed. The plowing 
is from 5 to 6 inches deep and is usually followed by one or two 
harrowings just before seeding. Only a very small part of the plowed 
acreage is disked. A disk is sometimes used for working down the 
listed ridges. 
Some of the corn land is seeded to wheat each year after the corn 
is cut. This land may be disked before seeding if much grass or 
weeds are present, but if the soil is in good condition nothing is done 
except drilling. Wheat seldom follows feed crops such as kafir, 
sorghums, or Sudan grass, because these crops deplete the soil 
