22 
BULLETIN 961, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
LABOR REQUIREMENTS OF SWEET POTATOES. 
The sweet-potato crop requires more labor than cotton. The 
number of operations is large, and some of them, such as breaking 
and bedding, may be done two, three, or even four times before the 
plants are set out. This accounts for the large labor requirements for 
these operations as shown in Table XXXV. Planting, hoeing, and 
harvesting each requires a considerable amount of hand labor. The 
crop is usually hoed once. 
Table XXXV. — Labor requirements per acre on sweet potatoes, by operations. 
Operation. 
Break 
Bed 
Rebed 
Drag beds 
Center furrow 
Fertilize 
Drop plants. . 
Set plants 
Bar off 
Hours per acre. 
Num- 
ber of 
Man. 
Mule. 
reports. 
14.4 
10.0 
40 
7.5 
8.0 
51 
6.0 
6.5 
14 
2.5 
1.2 
. 38 
1.7 
1.7 
14 
3.2 
2.4 
22 
9.2 
53 
10.4 
53 
3.2 
3.2 
25 
Operation. 
Cultivate (average, If 
times) 
Cultivate middles 
Hoe 
Cut vines 
Drag vines 
Plow up 
Pick up 
Haul 
Hours 
Man. 
Mule. 
Num- 
ber of 
reports. 
2.8 
4.5 
6.9 
i5.6 
SUGAR CANE. 
With a limited number of records on sugar cane and the different- 
sized crews (2 men and 2 mules to 6 men and 2 mules), it was not 
possible to obtain enough estimates to give a reliable average on the 
planting operation. 
Also in the harvesting operation, because of the variety of methods 
employed, there were not enough records obtained on any one to 
give reliable averages. 
Table XXXVI presents the average crew duty at cultivating 
sugar cane. 
Table XXXYI. — Cultivating sugar cane. 
Method. 
Width 
of row. 
Number 
of re- 
ports. 
Average 
acreage 
per dav. 
Acreage reported 
most frequently. 
Cultivator (1 man, 1 mule. 2 furrows) 5 feet 
Hoeing (1 man) L . .do 
10 
10 
4.75 
.65 
5 (4 reports). 
0.5 (5 reports). 
The crew duty at making sirup is shown in Table XXXVII. The 
crew duty as shown in this table includes all of the crew necessary 
for grinding the cane and evaporating the sirup. 
