FARM ORGANIZATION IJS SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA 
Distribution of Man Labor on 29 Acres of Rye 
35 
30 
20 
I 

40 
30 
20 
1 
92 
1 
i 
1 
II 
,1 
1! 
92 
2 
# 
to -u- 
10 20 
10 20 
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. 10. — Rye is fall sown and is harvested earlier than oats or barley. The rye harvest may 
interfere with haying or the last cultivation of corn 
FLAX 
Land is always plowed for flax. This plowing is usually done in 
the spring. Since flax is usually grown on sod land, it is ordinarily 
disked at least twice and often three times. It is harrowed once 
before seeding and sometimes again after seeding. Flax is usually cut 
with a binder, although in 1920 one farmer m this study cut his 
with a mower, raked it, and threshed it from the windrows. Shock 
threshing is the usual practice. 
LABOR AND MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FLAX PRODUCTION 
Since there were only two farms each year that grew flax and the 
average per farm was only 12 acres, there are not sufficient data 
for a significant range of labor requirements. The average per acre 
of seed sown during the three years was 32 pounds and the average 
of twine 2.1 pounds. The average yield was 93^ bushels. By 
adapting data from the standard requirements for seed-bed prepara- 
tion operations already given and from the standard requirements 
for oat production outlined in the discussion of that crop, the require- 
ments shown in Table 26 for flax have been worked up on the basis 
of the usual practices discussed in the preceding paragraph : 
Table 26. — Standard requirements for 
flax 
production 
Operation and implement used 
Hours of labor 
Acres 
covered 
in a 10- 
hour day 
Man 
Horse 
Plowing, 1 sulky plow and 3 horses 
4 
12 
2 
2H 
20 
Harrowing, 22-foot harrow and 4 horses . - - - . 
W 2 
3 A\ 3 
1 
2H 4 
50 
Seeding, 10-foot drill and 4 horses .. -. 
20 
Cutting - 
133^ 
Shocking . ___ _ _________ 
10 
Shock threshing -.. _ _ __ _ _ 
4 
1 Data for sulky plows are given because a sulky is generally used for sod plowing, 
creased to allow for the fact that sod plowing is slower than stubble plowing. 
Seed, 2 pecks. 
Twine, 1 x /± pounds. 
They have been in- 
