pTANDARDISATION OF 
 GRICULTURAL LABOUR 
 
 By 
 
 T. B. PONSONBY 
 
 Printed by 
 
 W. H. SMITH ^ SON, 
 THE ARDEN PRESS, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.i. 
 
(P7 
 
 This is a reprint of Mr. Tonsonby*s 
 " Standardisation of Agricultural Labour^'' 
 which was published by the Co-operative 
 Reference Library, Dublin, and with 
 their consent re-published by the Country 
 Gentlemen's Association in their Tear-Book. 
 
 MAIN LIBRARY-AGRICULTURE DEF^. . 
 
The Standardisation of Labour 
 
 By T. B. PoNSONBY. 
 
 THK condition of agricul- 
 tural labour is not satisfac- 
 tory, and this is one of the 
 reasons why the return of high 
 agricultural prices has not resulted 
 in an increase of tillage. 
 
 If agriculture is to share in the 
 reconstruction after the war, it 
 is certain that this question must 
 be tackled. 
 
 Briefly, the labourer complains 
 that he is underpaid, and the em- 
 ployer answers that he cannot 
 pay a higher wage for the inferior 
 labour he receives. 
 
 Both these views are probably 
 correct, and together they form a 
 vicious circle. 
 
 There appears to be no evi- 
 dence that the payment of a 
 higher wage does of itself produce 
 greater efficiency. At the same 
 time, it should be noted that 
 ' under existing conditions a 
 labourer has no recognised guaran- 
 tee that an increase of his effici- 
 ency will secure him a higher wage. 
 I The result is that the agricul- 
 ' tural labourer is notorious for the 
 inefficiency of his work, and for 
 
 \' the low standard of his living. 
 The fact that this state of 
 affairs has existed so long shows 
 that the remedy is not easily 
 found ; but, having accepted the 
 view that this condition is un- 
 satisfactory, we must either at- 
 tempt a solution, or give up the 
 case as hopeless. The latter 
 method, whatever the facts, is 
 unworthy of adoption, and we are 
 therefore left with the necessity 
 
 of, at any rate, attempting a 
 remedy. 
 
 It may be accepted that the , 
 highest efficiency can only be 
 obtained when accompanied by a 
 thoroughly satisfactory condition 
 of mind as well as of body, ! 
 and this is wrapped up in the 
 larger problems of housing, edu- 
 cation, recreation and the develop- 
 ment of both the desire and op- 
 portunity for the better employ- 
 ment of spare time and money. 
 Alcoholism and its connection" 
 with the supply of suitable food 
 is no less important ; but -till these 
 are outside the scope of the pre- 
 sent article, which will confine 
 itself to the immediate difficulties 
 of the question — namely, the 
 combating of idleness and the en- 
 couragement of increased effici- 
 ency in the worker. 
 
 Since the chief cause of idleness 
 is boredom, and the absence of 
 reward the chief deterrent to 
 increased efficiency, we must at- 
 tempt to increase the labour^'s 
 interest in his work, and to 
 suggest a means of recognising 
 and rewarding an increase in his 
 efficiency. 
 
 For many reasons no real pro- I 
 gress can be made, unless we can | 
 define a day's work. For instance, ( 
 it is one of the duties of the 
 employer to see that his men do 
 a fair day's work, and if he does 
 not know what this is, his opinion 
 as to whether a labourer does a 
 fair day's work or not must be , 
 based on something other than 
 
 
THE. STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 ) the actual amount 'of work done. 
 Such a stAt6 pijaiffjiirsH ipbvi^usjy 
 wrong, arid* R ^]pt 'to lead to un- 
 fairness on the one side, and 
 deceit or intrigue on the other. 
 Again, a labourer has a perfect 
 right to ask what amount of work 
 
 .' is to be expected of him, and 
 unless his employer has some 
 definite views on the matter, he 
 cannot give a proper answer. It 
 is almost impossible to take an 
 interest in work which has no 
 apparent object ; and where there 
 is one, the nearness or remoteness 
 of it has a considerable efiect 
 upon the amount of interest 
 awakened. On the farm the ob- 
 ject of much of the work is only 
 realised after a considerable time, 
 and it is impossible to expect the 
 labourer to take the same interest 
 in it as his employer, for he may 
 not even be on that farm when 
 the results of his labour show 
 themselves. If his interest is to 
 be stimulated, it must be centred 
 on something less remote — and 
 
 , this is one of the objects of 
 
 i standardisation of labour. 
 
 There is a very definite pleasure 
 in finishing anything, and a sense 
 of relief when the day's work is 
 definitely done. No matter how 
 trivial the work, the satisfaction 
 of feeling that it is done and 
 finished with, or that the amount 
 allotted to that day has been 
 accomplished, is so real that it is 
 well worthy of cultivation. 
 
 By establishing standards of 
 
 i labour we not only give the work- 
 ■ man a definite and immediate 
 object for his labour, but we 
 place him on an altogether 
 different footing. If he has done 
 his work his position is definite — 
 he has earned, and not merely 
 
 _jreceived, his pay.> Any doubt as 
 to what his employer thinks of 
 his abilities may be discarded ; 
 
 he is a free man, and every even- 
 ing he may return home with a 
 pleasant feeUng that his work is 
 done and his efficiency proved. 
 
 The advantages to the em- 
 ployer are equally great. His 
 suspicions as to whether his men 
 work in his absence or not are 
 set at rest. There is no doubt as 
 to whether the work is done or not, 
 and he has some definite basis on 
 which to estimate how long work 
 will take, and what should be 
 its cost. This is the essence of 
 management, and management 
 determines the success or failure 
 of a farm more than any other 
 single factor. 
 
 By fixing a standard of labour 
 we supply something analogous 
 to bogey at golf, or even to the 
 goals at football. If football were 
 played without goal-posts, one 
 team might assert an overwhelm- 
 ing superiority over the other, 
 and yet the whole thing would 
 be unsatisfactory because definite 
 proof would be wanting. 
 
 The advantages gained by thus 
 standardising work are so well 
 recognised that it has been ac- 
 cepted as a law that a specific 
 amount of work to be performed 
 in a definite time is more effici- 
 ently done than a similar amount 
 of work to be performed in an 
 indefinite time. 
 
 We must next adopt a system 
 of payment designed to recognise 
 and reward increased efficiency 
 in the worker. Such a system 
 must recognise three facts : — 
 
 (a) A man will do his best if ade- 
 quately rewarded, and not otherwise, and 
 his reward should be proportionate to his 
 efficiency ; 
 
 (b) The reward must be prompt, for 
 the present value of a reward decreases 
 rapidly with the remoteness of its realisa- 
 tion ; 
 
 (c) The system should promote and 
 not impair feelings of goodwill between 
 employer and employed, for the results 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 of much farm labour depend to a very 
 great extent on the existence of such 
 feelings. 
 
 The following systems of pay- 
 ment are worthy of considera- 
 1 tion :— 
 / I. Day Work. — Ordinary pay- 
 / ment by time has the advantages 
 of great simplicity and of a 
 definite wage ; but it offers no 
 incentive to increased efficiency. 
 However, it must be frequently 
 employed and, when possible, 
 should be supplemented by a 
 . bonus designed to offer an incen- 
 \^tive in the desired direction, 
 " For instance, it is not unusual 
 to give shepherds a bonus on 
 the results of the lambing season. 
 It is better to give a larger bonus 
 •on each lamb reared over and 
 'above, say, a lamb for each ewe, 
 !than a smaller one on every lamb 
 •reared. 
 
 Or again, when milk is used for 
 butter-making, the bonus to the 
 milkers might bear some relation 
 to the amount of butter-fat in 
 the milk, because this is de- 
 pendent to a great extent on the 
 proper stripping of cows, which 
 is the act in which carelessness of 
 the milkers is most likely to show 
 itself. 
 
 2. Piece Work has many de- 
 sirable qualities, but it has the 
 very great disadvantages that the 
 fixing of the rate is liable to cause 
 much ill-feeling. Employers are 
 tempted to fix too low a rate, 
 fearing that a high one would ex- 
 / pose their ignorance of the work, 
 I whilst labourers are often afraid 
 / of earning all they might, lest the 
 / piece rate be lowered next time. 
 t-^ It has the further disadvantage 
 that horses are apt to be over- 
 driven and the work to be skimped. 
 But neither of these need occur 
 when the labourer is regularly 
 employed under satisfactory con- 
 
 ditions. Piece work, however, 
 is not inherently at fault, and is 
 to be recommended where the 
 fixing of a fair rate is not a diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 3. Differential Rate. — Here the 
 men may be employed at a daily 
 wage, but if the amount of work 
 performed reaches a certain stan- 
 dard, they are paid at a definitely 
 higher rate. 
 
 For instance, on a certain farm 
 ploughmen receiving i8s, a week 
 were found to average three- 
 quarters of an acre per day, which 
 was at a labour cost of 4s, per acre. 
 The farmer told his men that if 
 they would average one acre per 
 day, he would raise their wages to 
 21S. per week. The men thus 
 earned what was considered then 
 a very good wage, whilst the 
 labour cost to the farmer dropped 
 to 3s. 6d. per acre, and he had the 
 very great advantage of getting 
 the work hurried on. 
 
 It should be noted that the cor- 
 rect application of this method 
 ensures a benefit to both parties. 
 
 Again, where it is very necessary 
 to hurry on work, piece rates may 
 be employed, a higher rate being 
 paid for work done over and above 
 a certain standard. For instance, 
 loading dung into carts the men 
 might be paid, say, 2d. per cubic 
 yard for the first 20 cubic yards, 
 and 3d. for each additional cubic 
 yard per day, 
 
 4. Optional Day or Piece Rate. 
 — By this system a definite piece 
 rate is set for the work, but the 
 men have the option of being paid 
 either by the day or by the piece, 
 and need not exercise their option 
 until the pay day. For example, 
 a drainage scheme was being 
 carried out, the rate per yard hav- 
 ing been fixed. Circumstances 
 arose which made the progress 
 very irregular and the result of 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 the piece work uncertain ; but tht' 
 men workedon contentedly, know- 
 ing that they were certain of tlic 
 day's wage, and might earn a 
 good deal more. The great ad- 
 vantage of this system is that it 
 gives the incentive to increased 
 efficiency that is lacking in the 
 day work system and also, to a 
 great extent, avoids the annoy- 
 ance or disappointment which an 
 unsatisfactory piece rate may 
 cause. The conditions of farm 
 labour offer a very suitable field 
 for the emplojnnent of this 
 system. 
 
 5, The Stint System. — By this 
 1 system a definite amount of work 
 ' is set to each man, having done 
 
 which he may go home. Here, 
 the labourer's reward is in spare 
 time and not in money, and this 
 is sometimes — ^though not always 
 — of great value. 
 
 6. Profit Sharing Systems are 
 not really applicable to farming. 
 The reward is too remote, and 
 based on complexities which the 
 labourer cannot understand. 
 
 It may here be noted that one 
 of the most obvious and desirable 
 examples of increased efficiency 
 consists in greater regularity of 
 attendance. This is important, 
 because the planning of the work 
 beforehand is one of the chief 
 factors of successful farming, and 
 the value of this planning depends 
 upon the certainty with which 
 the labour is available. The work 
 done by a labourer regular in his 
 attendance is of greater value to 
 the farmer than similar work done 
 by a man on whose attendance 
 the farmer cannot rely. 
 
 Standards of Labour. 
 
 In fixing standards of labour 
 an attempt is made to state what 
 amoimt of work a normally 
 efficient labourer should perform 
 
 in a day. No attempt is made to 
 fix a maximum ; the amount fixed 
 should be such as can be con- 
 siderably increased when a proper 
 incentive is offered. 
 
 In all cases normal conditions 
 are assumed, and in the case of 
 horse implements it is further 
 assumed that the horses and im- 
 plements are suited to each other 
 and to the ground they work. It 
 is not suggested that the amount 
 of work done should necessarily 
 be measured every day, but that 
 a system should be at hand by 
 which this can be done whenever 
 necessary. The ordinary man, 
 paying bills, does not necessarily 
 always check the totals of every 
 item of the weekly accounts sub- 
 mitted to him by different traders ; 
 but he should do so now and then, 
 and should certainly always be 
 able to do so. 
 
 So it is with the standards of 
 labour. They are for a definite 
 purpose, and the amount of work 
 done should closely approximate 
 the standard. " As long as the 
 ship keeps her course let her steer 
 herself " is a very good nautical 
 saying, and it is thoroughly ap- 
 phcable to farming. Neverthe- 
 less, the mariner from time to 
 time glances at the compass ; and 
 so should the farmer keep his 
 standards before him. 
 
 In no case is it suggested that 
 the use of standards should dis- 
 place common sense ; on the 
 contrary, it is hoped that their 
 use will stimulate the latter. 
 
 Horse Implements. 
 The number of acres which any 
 implement should cover in a day 
 ought to be known, and this 
 depends upon 
 
 (i) The distance travelled ; and 
 (2) The width of the imple- 
 ment. 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 By combining these two factors 
 in a single expression we get an 
 index by which the standard for 
 any class of implements is arrived 
 at. 
 
 The Index is a figure which, 
 when divided into the width of 
 an implement in inches, gives the 
 number of acres forming a stan- 
 dard day's work for that imple- 
 ment, and is based on the distance 
 travelled by it whilst doing effec- 
 tive work. 
 
 An effective draught of ii miles 
 is good work for ploughs and 
 other slow-moving implements, 
 and the index for this is 9, because 
 if the width of the implement in 
 inches is divided by 9, the quo- 
 tient gives the number of acres 
 that implement will do, if drawn 
 for exactly 11 miles of effective 
 work. Example, a plough turn- 
 ing a 9-inch sod : 9 -f- 9 equals 
 I acre per day, and in practice 
 this is found to be quite a fair 
 day's work. In the short days of 
 mid-winter, or on heavy land, 
 the index might be to, in which 
 case the distance travelled would 
 be practically 10 miles. 
 
 Considered from another point 
 of view, the plough in the first case 
 has to travel 11 miles ; the pace 
 should be about if miles per hour, 
 and at this speed it would take 
 about 6^ hours of effective work. 
 Under ordinary conditions this 
 should not be excessive, but to 
 maintain such an average implies 
 an efficiency of management 
 which is rarely found. 
 
 A cultivator working a width 
 of 48 inches : 48 -^ 9 equals 
 5^ acres per day. This again, is 
 quite good work, and above the 
 average, but with efficient man- 
 agement it should be maintained, 
 and the labourer regularly accom- 
 plishing it should be recognised 
 as efficient. 
 
 Harrows, to do efficient work, 
 should move at a brisk speed, say, 
 2 miles per hour at least, and light 
 harrows a bit faster. The index 
 would be 8, on the assumption 
 that there should be about 12^ 
 miles of effective work done, and 
 this, at 2 miles an hour, is 6 J hours' 
 work. 
 
 Another example may be taken 
 from drill hoeing. Suppose a root 
 crop is growing in drills 27 in. 
 apart, and an implement is used 
 doing 2 drills at a time. The 
 width covered, therefore, is twice 
 'zy—i.e., 54 in. 
 
 Drill hoes are light, fast-moving 
 implements, and are used at a 
 time of year when the days are 
 long and conditions good. The 
 index 7 may be used, requiring 
 an effective draught of 14 miles : 
 54 -^ 7 equals 7f , say, 7I acres 
 per day. 
 
 Standards for other implements 
 can be fixed by the same methods, 
 and the system is equally appli- 
 cable to work done by farm 
 tractors, whose index would 
 probably be about 6, requir- 
 ing an effective draught of i6| 
 miles. 
 
 The exact index to bo used must 
 be settled by the employer on the 
 spot. By fixing an index higher 
 or lower than the normal, allow- 
 ances can be made for local 
 conditions. 
 
 
 
 Miles 
 
 Index. 
 
 Iinplemeats. 
 
 Kflective 
 Draught. 
 
 10 
 
 Ploughs, Heavy Cultivators . . 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 Ploughs, Cultivators, Heavy 
 
 
 
 Harrows 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 Harrows, Rollers, Drills, etc., 
 and fast-moving Implements 
 
 
 
 subject to frequent stops . . 
 
 I2i 
 
 7 
 
 Light Harrows, Hoes and fast 
 
 
 
 moving Implements 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 Motor-drawn Implements 
 
 l6i 
 
 By dividing the width of an implement in inches by 
 the index for its class, the quotient gives the number 
 of acres that implement will cover if it is drawn th« 
 number of miles shown in the third column. 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 With the help of this table it 
 should not be difficult to deter- 
 mine the amount of work which 
 any implement will do. The 
 farmer ought to be able to esti- 
 mate the distance his horses 
 should be able to draw any imple- 
 ment under the conditions existing 
 in the field, and having done this, 
 the acreage can be determined by 
 means of the index. 
 
 Common sense, of course, must 
 be applied, and if the implement 
 works only in one direction and 
 has to come back idle, it will do 
 only half the work or thereabouts. 
 For instance, a potato digger is a 
 fast-moving implement, and there- 
 fore has the index 7. Suppose 
 potatoes are growing in drills 
 28 in. apart ; if the digger works 
 in both directions it will do 4 
 acres per day, if in one direction 
 only, then 2 acres or a little more 
 will be its standard. 
 
 Speed of Horses. 
 
 Many experiments have been 
 carried out to test the relative 
 efficiency of horses at different 
 speeds. 
 
 A horse is found to exert his 
 greatest efficiency at a low speed 
 between 2 and 2| miles per hour ; 
 above that speed his efficiency 
 decreases gradually, and below it 
 fairly rapidly. 
 
 A plough should not be allowed 
 to go at a slower speed than i| 
 miles per hour ; from that to a 
 miles per hour is normal plough 
 pace. If the horse goes slower, he 
 becomes very inefficient — in fact, 
 at a very slow pace it is all he can 
 do to balance himself, as may 
 easily be seen by watching the 
 track of a very slow-moving horse. 
 It is analogous to the difficulty 
 we experience in bicycling at a 
 very slow speed. 
 
 Harrows should be kept moving 
 briskly. There is a marked dif- 
 ference in the work done by the 
 same harrow at different speeds 
 When going along at 2J miles per 
 hour a rapid vibrating motion is 
 imparted to the harrow, which 
 then does quite different work to 
 that which the same harrow does 
 at a slow speed. 
 
 The steadiness of the draught 
 is also of great importance in 
 mowers and binders, particularly 
 the latter. 
 
 In carting, the speed at which 
 horses travel is often quite ridicu- 
 lously slow. There is no earthly 
 reason why horses should cart at 
 less than 3 miles an hour, espe- 
 cially when the return journey is 
 empty ; yet horses and men 
 easily get into the habit of almost 
 crawling. At 3 miles an hour 
 a horse travels i mile in 20 
 minutes, which is J of a mile in 5 
 minutes. 
 
 A trip of I furlong, which means 
 a journey to a point i furlong away 
 and back again (that is a total 
 distance travelled of a furlongs) 
 will take 5 minutes, and in 
 estimating the number of horses 
 required to keep some operations 
 going steadily, such calculations 
 are necessary. For instance, if 
 two men can load 10 cwt. of roots 
 into a cart in 6 minutes, in order 
 to keep these men busy, a cart 
 must come to them every 6 
 minutes to replace that moving 
 away. A cart having to travel 
 I furlong to the unloading point 
 will be back in 6 or 7 minutes, 
 according to the unloading facili- 
 ties, and therefore, at this length 
 of haul, a carts will keep the 
 loaders busy. If the trip is 2 
 furlongs, an extra cart should be 
 employed. 
 
 The economies obtainable by 
 attention to such matters will 
 
 8 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 startle anyone who has not put 
 the matter to the test. 
 
 MANUAL LABOUR. 
 Work. Standard Amount 
 
 per Day. 
 / Potatoes. 
 
 Cutting sets. Late Varieties . . 8 cwts. 
 
 „ „ Early „ •■ 9 „ 
 
 Planting sets* i acre 
 
 Dig with fork or spade . . . . i „ 
 
 Sort, pick and fill into carts . . . . i „ 
 Cabbages. 
 
 Planting i „ 
 
 Keans. 
 
 Dibbling 1 „ 
 
 Root Crops. 
 
 Mangolds, dibbling I acre 
 
 Mangolds, swedes or turnips — 
 
 Hoe and single* J ,, 
 
 Top, tail and lay in rows . . . . 8i tons 
 
 Loading into carts roots prepared 
 as above . . . . . . . . 20 „ 
 
 Top, tail and load . . . . . . 6 „ 
 
 Clamp, stack, or pit as delivered by 
 
 carts *o „ 
 
 Corn. 
 Sow broadcast by hand . . . . 10 acres 
 
 Bind and set up sheaves after reaper . . 1 1 „ 
 Set up sheaves after binder . . . • 3 ,, 
 Turn and reset sheaves . . . . 4 „ 
 
 Load sheaves on to cart (extra man 20 tons 
 required on cart), say . . . . 8 acres 
 Farm Yard Manure. 
 
 Load into carts 20 cubic yds. 
 
 Spread as dumped from carts . . 20 „ „ 
 
 I cubic yard about 14 cwts. 
 Soiling Crops. 
 
 Cut with scythe 8 tons 
 
 Load 16 .. 
 
 Cut and load Sj „ 
 
 Hay. 
 Load on cart (extra man on cart) . . 12 tons 
 „ „ elevator .. .. .. 15 „ 
 
 Milch Cows. 
 Clean out byre and feed in winter . . 48 cows 
 Milk : allow per cow in full milk . . 10 min. 
 Road Work (Rea, How to Estimate). 
 Pick up and level 3 inches deep . . 30 yds. super. 
 Scrape. A man with a hand machine 
 can scrape ofl road surface per day, 
 when surface is soft and pliable and 
 J to } inch thick . . . . 2,200 „ „ 
 
 Giving of dirt about 61 loads 
 
 Spread and level in 6-inch layers road 
 
 metal per day . . . . • • 30 cubic yds. 
 
 I cubic yard hand-broken metal 
 covers 25 to 30 yds. super. 
 Stone-breaking by hand to 2-inch cubi 
 measured after breaking : — 
 Limestone, whinstone . . ■ • ^i cubic yds. 
 Basalt and igneous rock .. .. ij „ „ 
 
 Load road metal into carts . . . . 20 „ „ 
 
 say, . . 20J tons 
 
 Excaualion. 
 Load into carts loose earth or 20 cubic yds. 
 
 similar material, say . . . . 20 tons 
 
 Get (i.e.. Dig) and till into carts : — 
 
 Light soil . . . . . . . . 13 cubic yds. 
 
 Strong soil . . . . . . . . 12 „ „ 
 
 „ Clay . . . . . . . . 10 „ 
 
 Chalk 8 „ „ 
 
 Unloading Carts (dump). 
 
 Unload roots or easily deposited 
 material . . . . . . . . 2 min. per load 
 
 Manure or material that clings to cart : 
 allow tor one heap . . . . . . 3 „ „ 
 
 For each additional heap into which 
 
 load is divided . . . . . . i „ „ 
 
 In the foregoing table, work 
 marked with a * refers torecognised 
 daily averages in districts where 
 the work is very highly developed, 
 , and the standard here set may be 
 too high in most districts. 
 
 Some work, such as loading 
 sheaves on to carts, necessitates 
 an extra man on the cart to 
 manage the sheaves. His time is 
 not here included. The time given 
 refers only to the man " pitching." 
 
 The amounts given here have 
 been derived from practical expe- 
 rience, or from the following 
 authorities : — 
 
 Agricultural Surveyor's Hand- 
 book (Bright). 
 
 Agricultural Note Book (McCon- 
 nell). 
 
 Handbook for Surveyors (Hurst). 
 
 Labour (Morton). 
 
 How to Estimate (Rea) . 
 
 In the case of loading into carts 
 it is of course assumed that the 
 loader is kept continually sup- 
 phed with empty carts. 
 
 As a general rule it may be 
 assumed that a man will load 
 with spade or fork about 20 tons 
 of material, of which the spade or 
 forkfuUs do not have to be 
 detached from the mass. Such 
 material would be broken road 
 metal, loose earth, stones, sheaves 
 of corn, roots ready pulled. 
 
 Where loading and hauling are 
 a combined operation it is neces- 
 sary to know the time occupied by 
 each part, in order that we may 
 arrive at the number of trips that 
 should be performed each day. 
 
 In the following table it is 
 assumed that the work is concen- 
 trated into 8 effective hours : — 
 
 Loading and Trip Table. 
 
 The table is divided into pairs 
 of companion columns, and is such 
 that if the number of units which 
 can be loaded in one day be found 
 in one column, the time in minutes 
 taken to load one unit stands 
 opposite in the companion 
 column. Again, if the total time 
 taken over one trip {i.e., the sum 
 of the times taken to load, haul, 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 unload and return) be found in 
 one column, then the total num- 
 ber of trips to be performed in one 
 day stands opposite in the other 
 column. 
 
 * 
 
 H" 
 
 la 
 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 . 
 
 s 
 
 i6o 
 
 \t 
 
 3* 
 
 3* 
 
 
 4 
 
 lao 
 
 30 
 
 It 
 
 
 I 
 
 to 
 
 i8 
 
 a7 
 
 
 so 
 
 84 
 
 30 
 
 
 I 
 
 68 
 
 aa 
 
 aa 
 
 43 
 
 
 6o 
 
 *4 
 
 ao 
 
 46 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 li 
 
 a6 
 
 i8 
 
 
 — 
 
 10 
 
 ati 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 For example, a man loads 20 
 tons stones per day into carts and 
 therefore takes 24 minutes to 
 load I ton. Again, carting stones, 
 if it takes 32 minutes to load, haul, 
 deliver and return, then 15 jour- 
 neys can be done per day. 
 
 HOW TO USE THE TABLES. 
 
 ROLK I. To find the cost of any standardised operations ; 
 Multiply the uumbtr of units of work to be per- 
 formed by the Rate of Daily Pay, and divide by 
 the Standard for that work. 
 Example : — The men are paid 3s. 4<i. per day. 
 What should it cost to hoe and single 45 acres 
 of swedes ? 
 
 45 acres x 40 pence-r i equals 
 =45 „ X 40 „ X 3 equals 5,400 pence 
 
 „ £22 IDS. od. 
 RuLC 2. To find the numl'er of days' work that a gi'jen 
 operation will take : 
 Divide the number of units of work to be per- 
 formed by the Standard for that work. 
 Example : — How long should it take a man to cut 
 the sets for 14 .icres of early potatoes at 12 cwts. 
 per acre ? 
 
 14 acres x 12 cwts.-i-g equals 
 = i68-r9 equals iSJ, say, 19 days. 
 Role 3. To find the proper number of :arts to keep u«« 
 gane'husy : 
 Divide the total time of one trip (i.e., sum of times 
 taken to load, haul, deposit and return) by the 
 loading time. 
 Example . — Two men load a cart with manure in 
 7 minutes. It takes 14 minutes for the cart to 
 go out. deposit load, and return. How many 
 carts snould be employed ? 
 2i-r7 equals 3 carts. 
 
 The calculation will seldom give 
 an exact number of carts, but, if 
 the number works out with a 
 fraction, then the number of carts 
 employed must be the next 
 highest whole number, otherwise 
 the men are denied the chance of 
 speeding up. 
 
 Example : Two men are en- 
 gaged in a quarry to load carts 
 with road metal. The carts are 
 brought up by boys who do not 
 help in the loading. Each cart 
 
 contains i6 cwts. One man can 
 load 20 tons per day, and there- 
 fore, by the loading table we see 
 that he takes 24 minutes per ton. 
 
 Two men will then take 12 
 minutes per ton, or 9*6 minutes 
 per load of 16 cwts. 
 
 To keep these men busy the 
 carts must arrive every 9^ min- 
 utes. The length of the haul is 
 4 furlongs, and the time taken to 
 deposit load is 3 minutes. The 
 calculation then works out : 
 
 Load 
 
 Haul (4 X 5) 
 Deposit .. 
 
 Minuttf!. 
 9» 
 
 32 i 
 
 which, divided by 9I, requires 4 
 carts. 
 
 A detailed example of the use 
 of the standards, and of the rules 
 applying to them, may not be out 
 of place. 
 
 A farmer has 30 acres of swedes, 
 estimated to yield 20 tons to the 
 acre — in all, 600 tons to be 
 harvested. 
 
 The field is just 3 furlongs from 
 the place the roots are to be 
 stored or pitted. The land is soft, 
 and the farmer considers 12 cwts. 
 of roots sufficient load for his 
 horses. The 600 tons will there- 
 fore give 1,000 loads 
 
 We have seen that one man will 
 top, tail and load into carts 6 tons 
 of roots per day ; tliat is to say, 
 6 tons is the standard day's work ; 
 and by dividing the total amount 
 by the standard (Rule 2) we get 
 the number of days' work. In 
 this case 600 -^ 6 equals 100 days 
 of I man. The carting will neces- 
 sitate 1,000 loads. The distance 
 is 3 furlongs, occupying 15 min- 
 utes — to which must be added 
 2 minutes to deposit the load — 
 making 17 minutes in all. We 
 see by the Load and Trip Tables 
 that the standard day's work for 
 
 10 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 17 minute trips is 28, and the 
 total time taken in carting is 
 therefore 1,000 -i- 28 — i.e., 36 days 
 of I man. 
 
 The time taken to pit or store 
 the crop is worked out in a 
 similar way — i.e., one man will 
 pit 20 tons per day ; therefore, 
 600 -i- 20 equal 30 days of i man. 
 
 If the average daily wage of the 
 labourers is 3s. 4d., the labour 
 cost can be tabulated as follows: — 
 
 Work. 
 
 Top.tail and load 
 
 Cart 
 
 Pit 
 
 Quantity. Stan- No. of Cost at 
 
 dard. Days. 3s. 4'/. aday 
 
 600 Tons -T- 6 = 100 
 
 i,oooLoads-h 28 = 36 
 
 600 Tons -f- 20 = 30 
 
 Total = 166 
 
 £ s. d. 
 16 13 4 
 600 
 
 £27 13 4 
 
 The workers must, however, be 
 supplied with the proper pro- 
 portion of horses, and this may 
 be calculated as follows : — The 
 farmer will arrange to have one 
 man in the field ready to help each 
 carter to load as he comes up. 
 That is to say, two men will be 
 loading. We see by the Loading 
 Table that if i man can load 20 
 tons per day, each ton will occupy 
 24 minutes, and therefore 12 cwts. 
 (l load) will take 14-4 minutes of 
 I man, or 72 minutes of 2 men. 
 To keep the loading busy we must 
 have carts arriving every 6 or 7 
 minutes. The travelling and un- 
 loading time we have seen to 
 amount to 17 minutes ; add to 
 this the loading time and we get 
 24 minutes. Apply Rule 3 we 
 divide the total time 24 minutes 
 by the loading time 7 minutes, and 
 we get the number of carts re- 
 quired — i.e., 3 or 4. 
 
 In order to give the men a 
 chance of earning a good wage, 
 it is only fair to give the larger 
 number of horses — in this case 4. 
 
 The f'lrmer now knows what 
 the work should cost, and he can 
 set it to his men for that amount. 
 
 By speeding up they will earn a 
 
 higher pay per day, and the 
 
 farmer will get his work forward. 
 
 Measurements. 
 
 It should at once be noted that 
 the degree of accuracy required 
 should always be definitely under- 
 stood. It is often far more im- 
 portant to get an immediate 
 approximation than absolute 
 accuracy at a later date. Much 
 time may be lost by seeking for 
 the latter, where money might be 
 actually gained by at once accept- 
 ing the former. The approxima- 
 tion, however, must be based on 
 a definite method, and not merely 
 on guess work. This will not do 
 at all. The method to be em- 
 ployed will, in all cases, depend on 
 the degree of accuracy required. 
 
 For measurements of land there 
 is nothing equal to the surveyor's 
 chain. If we wish to estimate 
 the weight of mangolds to the acre 
 we may sample 120 of an acre, 
 knowing that the weight on the 
 sample area in cwts. will be equal 
 to the weight on the whole acre in 
 tons. Or, if less accuracy is 
 required, the weight on i-i6o 
 acre in stones is equal to that on 
 the whole acre in tons. Both 
 these units are convenient. A 
 I "20 of an acre is an area i chain 
 by I cliain wide, whilst i-i6o acre 
 is an area which, if square, has 
 5| yards side, and can be measured 
 by forming a square with one chain 
 strained around stakes so that 
 the ends meet, the angles being all 
 right angles and the sides equal. 
 
 Roots can be conveniently mea- 
 sured in the clamp or pit, and 
 Bright gives the following table: — 
 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Cubic foot 
 
 Kind of Crop. 
 
 per cubic foot. 
 
 per ton. 
 
 Mangolds 
 
 32 
 
 53 
 
 Swedes . . 
 
 34 
 
 65 
 
 Turnips 
 
 31 
 
 71 
 
 Potatjcs 
 
 34 
 
 65 
 
 Parsuipjii . . 
 
 31 
 
 72 
 
 II 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 From this we may assume that 
 a clamp or pit, liaving a base of 
 9 ft. and a height of 4 ft. 6 in. 
 contains of swedes or potatoes or 
 mangolds about i ton for each 
 yard in length ; wliilst of common 
 turnips or parsnips the clamp 
 should be 6 in. higher in order to 
 hold the same amount. 
 
 It is very useful to be able to 
 estimate rapidly the area of a 
 given part of any field. 
 
 The employer should carry a 
 note book in wliich the area of all 
 his fields is marked, and also the 
 length of the furrow in each field. 
 If the latter is known, the follow- 
 ing table will allow of a rapid 
 approximation of areas to be 
 arrived at by means of pacing 
 the length of headland. 
 
 The table contains pairs of com- 
 panion columns, and is such that 
 if the length of the furrow in yards 
 is found in one, the length of head- 
 land demarking i acre appears 
 opposite in the other : — 
 
 22 
 
 220 
 
 27 
 
 180 
 
 35 
 
 140 
 
 48-5 
 
 100 
 
 »3 
 
 210 
 
 28-5 
 
 170 
 
 37-5 
 
 130 
 
 34 
 
 2** 
 
 «4-5 
 
 200 
 
 30-5 
 
 i6<- 
 
 40-5 
 
 120 
 
 61 
 
 80 
 
 25-5 
 
 190 
 
 325 
 
 150 
 
 44 
 
 no 
 
 695 
 
 70 
 
 For further information' as to 
 measurements the reader is re- 
 ferred to Bright's Agricultural 
 Surveyor's Handbook, a work no 
 landowner should be without. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 The whole question of agricul- 
 tural wages really depends upon 
 the proportion which costs of pro- 
 duction bear to the price of the 
 product. The largest of these 
 costs is the labour bill, and the 
 efficiency of the labour is the con- 
 trolling factor in the costs of 
 production. Wages must then 
 ultimately depend upon efficiency, 
 and this is the point on which 
 attention must be concentrated. 
 The attainment of efficiency is 
 
 the province of management and, 
 as has been mentioned before, the 
 management of the farm is the 
 factor which transcends all others 
 in importance. Knowledge is no 
 use, unless it can be applied ; and 
 it is on this that success or failure 
 depends. Of all the books on 
 farming there is not one, as far as 
 I know, that contains as much as 
 one chapter on this, the most im- 
 portant factor of all ; nor do I 
 know of a single educational 
 course which teaches its students 
 anything about labour, and this 
 is not only by far the greatest of 
 all the items of expense, but the 
 one which, by universal consent, 
 is most in need of consideration. 
 The result is that the average 
 hired farm manager is totally in- 
 competent as such, and where he 
 does show a profit for his em- 
 ployer, it is almost always through 
 his ability as a buyer or breeder 
 of stock, and hardly ever due to 
 low costs of production. Where 
 the latter is studied at all it is 
 generally by trying to keep wages 
 low, and not by making efficiency 
 high. 
 
 One of the most obvious duties 
 of management is to see that 
 tools, equipment, etc., are ready 
 at the time and place needed. 
 Yet how seldom this is done. If 
 an employer will make a careful 
 study of the time lost by his men 
 in looking for such simple things 
 as swingle-trees, oil-cans, spanners, 
 or in waiting for plough points 
 or repairs to implements, or even 
 in waiting for instructions, he will 
 probably be amazed, especially if 
 he works out the time wasted as a 
 percentage of total time worked. 
 
 The utter inability of the aver- 
 age farm manager to keep any 
 form of cost account is universal. 
 Nine out of ten could not form any 
 real estimate as to the cost of pro- 
 
 12 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 ducing anything, nor can any 
 answer such a simple question as, 
 " What are the market condi- 
 tions that determine whether any 
 given produce should be fed or 
 sold ? " 
 
 Employers are horrified at a 
 sudden increase of rates amounting 
 to say, IS, in the £ on their valua- 
 tion, and are ready to combine to 
 prevent so dire a catastrophe ; 
 yet an increase of is. per acre in 
 costs of production is passed 
 absolutely unnoticed, and this, 
 no doubt, often amounts to a 
 greater sum than the is. increase 
 in the rates. 
 
 Again, how often on the farm 
 does one see five men doing the 
 work that four could equally well 
 do ? This unnecessary increase of 
 25 per cent, in the labour cost of 
 that particular operation is passed 
 unnoticed on the farm, while it 
 would not be tolerated for a 
 moment in any other industry. 
 
 How often are horses left idle 
 in the stable ? Yet a horse idle 
 for a week may cost as much as 
 or more than the rent of an acre 
 idle for a whole year. The sight 
 of the latter would fill one with 
 indignation, yet the former is 
 unnoticed. 
 
 While such conditions exist, 
 the employer cannot afford to pay 
 higher wages, but he has no right 
 to plead this as an excuse. Ihat 
 the solution is difficult none will 
 deny, but it is not impossible, 
 and until it is solved all those 
 that feel they are worthy of a 
 higher role than that of the agri- 
 cultural labourer will continue to 
 leave the ' country-side. The 
 whole business side of agricultural 
 education is neglected. It is only 
 in isolated farms here and there 
 that real business management is 
 to be found, and no one who has 
 visited such farms can fail to 
 
 appreciate the extraordinary re- 
 sults obtained. 
 
 There is no hope of a general 
 improvement in rural conditions 
 until such management becomes 
 the rule instead of the exception. 
 There are many societies in the 
 country whose object is the ad- 
 vancement of the science or prac- 
 tice of agriculture. What better 
 work could they perform than the 
 study of such questions ? 
 
 It must be recognised that real 
 agricultural prosperity is incom- 
 patible with a low standard of 
 living of the labourer, that the 
 standard of living of the labourer 
 depends ultimately upon efficiency, 
 that efficiency depends upon man- 
 agement, and that it is therefore 
 the duty of agricultural education 
 to produce men able so to organise 
 the farm that labour has a fair 
 opportunity to reach its highest 
 development. 
 
 This type of progress can begin 
 only at the top, and if it is to be 
 attained the country gentleman 
 must recognise that he performs a 
 higher duty to the State by mak- 
 ing his farm a model of efficiency 
 than by using it as an asylum for 
 the incompetent ; that the benefit 
 he confers upon labour is to be 
 measured rather by the dignity 
 to which he raises it than by the 
 numbers he employs ; and that 
 the skill with which he increases 
 the earning capacity of his men is 
 of greater value to mankind than 
 the liberality with which he pays 
 a wage they do not really earn. 
 
 He must be supplied by the 
 Colleges with the type of manager 
 required — a type at present al- 
 most unknown — and in return he 
 must be determined to employ 
 none save those worthy of the 
 office. The idea that efficiency 
 must be the foundation of agri- 
 cultural as of all other industrial 
 
THE STANDARDISATION OF LABOUR 
 
 prosperity must be made to 
 permeate rural life. 
 
 The labourer must be made to 
 i recognise that a day's work is 
 j something other than the mini- 
 I mum to which an indulgent master 
 will submit. The manager must 
 realise that he wrongs the man to 
 whom he denies the opportunity 
 ' of proving his real value, and the 
 reputation of the employer should 
 depend as much on the high stan- 
 dard of his labourers as on that of 
 his crops and stock. 
 
 The employer who does not put 
 himself in a position to recognise 
 which of his men really have his 
 interests at heart is not doing his 
 duty by them. If he does not 
 work alongside them so that he 
 has actual ocular evidence of 
 their work, then, in common fair- 
 ness, he should devise some other 
 means of attaining the same end. 
 Men who have made a success 
 of this side of the business should 
 be got together. Their knowledge 
 / should be collected and recorded, 
 and form part of the agricultural 
 education of the country. The 
 advantage of having such authori- 
 tative recognition of standards 
 of labour would be immense. It 
 would help the employer in his 
 dealings with bad workmen ; it 
 would give the labourer some 
 definite and immediate object for 
 his work, and it would identify 
 the efficient men. The difficulty 
 of doing the latter is the most 
 heart-breaking feature of agri- 
 
 cultural employment. It would 
 enormously help the vast number 
 of unskilled employers and em- 
 ployed whom the war has put to 
 agricultural work ; and for this 
 object alone I beUeve the question 
 should receive the immediate at- 
 tention of competent authorities. 
 
 One does not see how 'li Mini- 
 mum Wage Act can Operate with- 
 out some definition of aii cfficieat 
 man ; for, obviously, the wage is 
 not meant to apply to any other. { 
 
 If standards of labour were ' 
 drawn up, they would be modified, 
 if necessary, by local authorities 
 to suit local conditions. These 
 local codes could-^-if sanctioned 
 by a competent Government in- 
 spector — be used as a definition 
 of the efficient man to whom the 
 Act would apply. Any man 
 whom the employer could prove 
 was not up to the standard would 
 be outside the Act, or subject to 
 special provisions of it, whilst any 
 labourer who could prove his 
 efficiency could not be denied the 
 benefits of the law. 
 
 Once more, standards are not 
 meant to be used as strictly in- 
 violable laws, but as general 
 guides, and, as has already been 
 said, are comparable to the use 
 of bdg'ey at golf, or to the sailing 
 instructions of the mariner. 
 
 The author will be more than 
 satisfied if this article shall have 
 directed any attention whatever - 
 to this totally neglected yet 
 fundamental aspect of rural life. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 NOV 24 1947 
 
 LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702Bl6)476 
 
Syracuse, N. V. 
 PAT. JAN, 21, 1S08 
 
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