FARM ORGANIZATION IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA 
Table 32. — Standard requirements for wild-hay production 
41 
Operation and implement used 
Hours of labor 
Man 
Horse 
Acres 
covered 
in a 10- 
hour day- 
Mowing, 5-foot mower and 2 horses.. 
Baking, 10-foot rake and 2 horses _. 
Stacking, sweep rake and swinging stacker 
2 10 
1 20 
4H 3H 
DISTRIBUTION OF LABOR ON WILD HAY 
Wild hay as a crop is very elastic in its labor demands. The 
period at which it is ready to cut varies widely. A wide variety of 
grasses, varying from Kentucky bluegrass to coarse marsh grasses 
and sedges, is included. These mature at different times. Some 
fields are on high, well-drained land, which can be cut at any time; 
others are on low, wet land that is only dry enough for mowing in 
late summer. Then, too, the wild grass does not deteriorate so 
rapidly in palatability or feeding value after it is once ready to cut as 
do the tame grasses. For this reason the making of wild hay is 
extended over a considerable period and can be shifted to avoid 
conflict with the labor demands of other crops to a considerable 
extent. On these farms wild hay was cut as early as June 24 and as 
late as September 29. Most of it was cut between July 10 and 
August 30. Where it is cut earlier than July 10, it is usually with 
the purpose of getting a second crop. 
Distribution of Man Labor on 14 Acres of Wild Hay 
OF 
LABOR 
20 
1 
li 
1 
PO 10 10 20 10 20 
JAN. FEB. MAR. 
10 20 
APR. 
10 20 10 20 10 20 10 20 10 20 10 20 10 20 10 20 
MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. 
Fig. 12. — The quality of wild hay is not dependent upon the time of harvest to such an extent 
as is the quality of tame hay or alfalfa 
Figure 12 shows the distribution of man labor by days on a 14- 
acre field of wild hay. It illustrates the method of fitting in wild- 
hay work between other operations. The work was started July 5 
after the last cultivation of corn and extended until oat harvest on 
July 14. Two days, July 21 and 22, between oat harvest and shock 
threshing, were spent in putting up wild hay; and in August, after 
shock threshing was over, the work on the crop was completed. It 
is the usual practice to fit the wild-hay labor in this manner between 
the operations on other enterprises whose labor demands are less 
elastic. 
ALFALFA 
Alfalfa in the Windom area is practically always seeded with small 
grain as a nurse crop. Oats are generally used. The seed is mixed 
with the grain and little extra labor is involved. In some cases pre- 
pared cultures are used for inoculating the' soil, but more often soil 
from an old alfalfa field is used. In many cases a good stand is 
