Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-11-05
SAVING MAN POWER.
Three important Ways OF Making
Farm Labor More Efficient in
Field Operations.


use OF farm machinery. Man labor is
scarce. The lack must b. made up
largely by better utilization OF men.
horses, and tractors now on farms.
There are three important WAYS in
which our more efficient farmers i'm
prove on traditional methods OF using
labor for field operations. namely:
% They increase The horsepower
per man 10y increasing the size OF
tetamS.
t2) They increase the area covered
per man and per team by substituting
larse.sized implements for smaller
ones
80 They increase the area covered
in a given time by increasing the size
of fields.
TO increase horsepower per man the
farmer merely drives a three horse
team where before he drove but two
horses, or four horse or tve.horse
team instead OF a three,horse team.
This is perhaps the simplest eXpedient
for increasing labor efficiency on the
farm. and one which is already very
generally practiced by our farmers.
Where horse labor is abundant and
man labor scarce doubling up teams
effects material saving OF labor, even
without any increase in the size OF i'm.
PIGMENTS used. since naturally the
large team works more easily AMI
more rapidly than a smaller one.
When the doubling OF teams is &C.
companied by the introduction of
larger implements. a further saving
OF man labor and Of time is effected
For example. one man with a two-row
cuitivator will cultivate twice the crop
area per day covered by the man with
q one-row cultiyator. Thus, 100, under
favorable conditions. an Sfoot mower
or binder will cover much more
ground in q day than will 6.toot ma.
chine. Similar economies may be ef-
fected with other machines. such as
harrows. sulky plows, hayrakes. and
the like, especially in the Eastern
states, where smailsized implements
are the rule. In general, the larger
sized machines cost but little more
than the smaller ones; indeed the diff
ference is usually so small that one
seasons saving in man labor through
the use OF big machine will often
pay the excess in its cost over that OF
one Of a smaller size. The farmer
should always buy the largest nipple
ment that will be practical on his land.
It is false economy 10 buy a smaller
one.
Resort to the third expedient for In.
creasing labor efficiency in field opera
tons, namely, en,arging fields, de
Ponds in a great measure on
the lay OF the land. Where the land
is level or rolling and two adjoining
fields to be plowed can be piowed as
one If fence between is removed, it
is often worth while to tear away the
fence and throw the two fields into
one Thus the straightaway reaches
IN blowing and other operations are
heightened and much OF the time is
saved that otherwise would be lost in
turning. Incidentally, this procedure
brings under cultivation the waste
land in the fence row.
Farm management studies have
shown that the size of farm is a con.
trolling factor as regards efficiency in
the Us OF man labor, horee labor, and
machinery on farms. That is 10 say.
other things beng equal, the larger
the farm the more crop acres worked
per man. 1t is not possible, Of course,
for the average farmer to increase the
size Of his farm at will to meet emer.
gency, but many will find IL possible to
gain at once a measure of the advan-
tage Of large farm by making their
fields as large and as few in number
as is possible under the conditions of
topography and rotation.
For the tractor owner there are Ger.
tain special eXpedients that may be
resorted TO in this crisis. II work OF.
fers and proficient operators arc avail
able for two shifts, he should work his
outfit "a hours a day. The tractor that
works all night as we'll as all day Is
the equivalent of two such tractors
working II hours. The average trac-
tor owner is in position TO render eff
fective aid in the production campaign
by helping those OF his neighbors who
may be behindhand with their spring
work, and in many instances, no doubt
week of night work b. tractor will
90 far toward solving he immediate
labor problem Of neighborhood. AT
any rate it is the obvious duty Of the
tractor owner to do all the custom
work he can do in the spring without
neglecting his own work.
1t should be borne in mind in this
connection that experience has shown
that in working exceptionally long
hours with tractors it is generally the
best practice TO have one man in full
charge Of the outfit and responsible
for all adjustments and repairs.
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