24 
BULLETIN 1271, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
silage corn was drilled and the remainder of the corn checked. The 
peak labor demand occurred during the silo filling in September. 
Most of the land was fall plowed and hence the work did not start 
so early in the spring as where there is considerable spring plowing 
to do. The husking labor was concentrated in a somewhat shorter 
period than is usually the case. Otherwise the labor distribution 
is quite characteristic for the area. 
Distribution of Man Labor on 57 Acres of Corn 
OF 
LABOR 
60 
30 
20 
■ 
•i 
1 
i 
i 
1 
i 
n . 
ii: 
4 
„ 
1 
II 
10 20 
10 zo 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
10 20 
JAN. 
FEB. 
MAR. 
APR. 
MAY 
JUNE 
JULY 
AUG. 
SEPT. 
OCT. 
NOV. 
DEC. 
Fig. 7.— Corn cultivation can usually be finished early in July before the oats harvest begins. 
Silo filling takes large crews of men and horses for a few days 
OATS 
During the three years of this study only 25 per cent of the oat 
land was plowed; the remainder was disked into cornland. This 
?ractice has increased with the increased use of cornland for oats, 
n 1920, half of the oat land was plowed, but in 1922 only 5 per cent. 
The plowing was practically all done in the fall. All but 3}A per 
cent of the oat land was disked at least once and most of it was 
disked two or more times. The average for all farms was one and 
three-fourths diskings. Where an end-gate seeder is used the oats 
are often seeded first and then the land is disked. Sometimes the 
land is disked before seeding and again after. It is often disked 
after seeding where an ordinary broadcast seeder is used, but seldom 
where a drill is used. Only one-third of the oat land was harrowed 
before seeding, but four-fifths was harrowed after seeding and 5 
per cent was not harrowed at all. A little over one-half was harrowed 
once and the remainder two or more times. The average number 
of harro wings was one and four-tenths. 
Sixty-three per cent of the oat acreage was planted with a drill. 
A disk drill was generally used. Twenty-three per cent was seeded 
with a broadcast seeder and 14 per cent with an end-gate seeder. 
The oat crop was cut with a binder and shocked. A small amount 
was fed in the bundle but most of the crop was threshed. In the 
past three years there has been a rapid transition from stack thresh- 
ing to shock threshing. In 1920, 33}^ per cent of the oat acreage 
was shock threshed; in 1921, Q>3% per cent; and in 1922, 70 per cent. 
