The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1920-07-01
prepared by the United states Depart

! lBreDaIeu
ment OF Agriculture)
The relative efficiency Of plows Of
different Sizes the value Of the tractor
! compared with horses, the saving eff
! fected by corn binders, hay loaders,
and numerous other implements, and
other facts bearing on farm manage
| mcnt are discussed by specialists Of
! the office of farm management, In a
! bulletin recently issued. The publica-
ton discusses in detail the standard
days work I'm central Illinois; that Is,
the amount Of work that the 600 farm
ers included i'm the investigation ordi-
uarly do i'm that part Of the work day
devoted to given farm operation,
such az the number Of acres plOwed
with a given equipment. In some in
stances the rate Of work is given in
the bulletin in number Of minutes per
load, as i'm loading and unloading hay
or hauling and spreading manure.
From the figures published one may
get Il good idea of the rate at which
different farm operations are done in
the parts Of the corn belt in question
For example, IT is shown that one man
does from 20 to so per cent more with
| the 2S-mch horse-drawn gang plow
than with the one-bottom 1G-lnch plow.
Figures are given for spring and fall
plowing narrowing, planting, Cultivat-
/ ing harvesting husking seeding, un-
| loading ear corn, unloading oats, load
ing and unloading hay, and hauling
and spreading manure. The bulletin
is entitled "The Standard Days Work
! i'm Central Illinois" Copies may be
had by addressing the United States
department of agriculture, Washing
ton, d. c.
The farms represented by this in
quIry are fairly typical of those
! throughout the middle western states,
since the average crop area is 1914
acres and an average Of 32.1 acres Is
never planted to crops. Corn is the
principal product, at least one-half of
the crop area being devoted to 1t, and
the oat crop is second in Importance.
! The ground cultivated in most in
| stances is level, and so represents cas-
| ier working conditions than rolling off
, rugged country.
! The average time spent in the field,
! exclusive Of the time used in going
90 and returning from the field, at
! morning, noon, and night is reported
! by these men as ten hours and ten
minutes per day devoted TO spring
! field work and corn cultivation; nine
| hours and 50 minutes for haying and
! grain harvesting; nine hours and 80
minutes for fall blowing and preparing
! ground; and nine hours and 20 min
utes for corn harvest.
important Facts Emphasized
Among the significant facts brought
out by this inquiry may be mentioned
the following:
Under conditions where the use Of a
twO-row corn cultivator is practicable
this machine enables one man on these
farms TO cover nearly twice as much
ground per day as with a one-row cult
vator. Three horses are most com.
monty used on the two-row cultivator
and the addition of a fourth horse ap-
parently increases but little the amount
Of ground covered per day.
These farmers find that the use of
corn binder increases the efficiency
of man labor 80 per cent over that
achieved when cutting and shocking by
hand.
Eighty bushels was an average days
work on these farms for one man when
husking corn from the standing stalk
by hand.
The use Of a portable elevator re.
duces the time required to unload grain
into the bin by about 70 per cent
The use of a hay loader reduces by
about % per cent the time required to
put on a load Of hay. The amount OF
labor required for unloading into the
NOW is only a little more than hall
as great when a hayfork is used as
when the work is done by hand
The men In this territory who use
manure spreaders haul and spread g
given amount of manure IN less thar
half the time required by men who