i

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40

mixed farms, however, the figures for relative efficiencies are more meaningfur
because of the similarity of the enterprises to those used to develop the laboul
rating. Livestock enterprises, then, appeared to assist considerably in the
economy of labour for the crop farms attained a labour efficiency index of 54
compared with 115 and 125 on the livestock and mixed farms, respectively.

At the time of the survey farmers had to compete for the labour they
required against the thriving logging industry. Consequently, wages were high
and the importance of attaining a fairly high level of labour efficiency was,
therefore, essential. Moreover, even on farms where no labour was hired the
effective use of labour was important in order to maintain earnings equal to
the prevailing alternative wage. That many commercial farms were on or
below this margin is illustrated by the fact that labour earnings per family on
all commercial farms averaged $696, approximately one-third less than the
$980 that the average part-time farmer earned off the farm.

On the average the amount of labour hired was small. At Prince George-
Vanderhoof 1943-44, hired labour amounted to 20 days per farm. Wages had
averaged $56 plus board per month. Smithers farmers had hired 14 days of
labour per farm in 1944-45 at an average wage of $89 per month plus board.

Power

Horses were the usual source of farm power. Seventy-one per cent of the
farms depended upon them exclusively. The remainder had a tractor but almost
without exception used it in conjunction with horses.

Table 28 indicates the cost of operating those tractors. The total cost
amounted to $1.08 per hour which included the fixed cost of 43 cents (depreciation
and interest on investment). The fixed cost was relatively high because tractors
were only operated on the average for 300 hours per year. On 15 farms where
tractors had been operated more than 300 hours per year the average total hourly
cost was 79 cents. Most farmers, however, were in the position that they had only
200 or 300 hours of work for a tractor. Against total returns of less than $1,000,
which was typical of a majority of farms, an operating and depreciation cost of
$200 to $300 was quite large and probably accounted for the predominance of
horses for power. Moreover, except for the more recent models, tractors have not
had the versatility necessary to replace all horses on the farm. Consequently,
a farm operator required at least two horses whether or not he had a tractor and
perhaps without a tractor would only require four or five. The cost of tractor
operation, then, had to be balanced against the cost of keeping two or three
horses. Under those circumstances there is little doubt that horses were the
more economical source of power. Furthermore, no cash outlay was needed for
horse feed, all of which could be produced on the farm.

TABLE 28.—COST OF TRACTOR OPERATION PER TRACTOR
PRINCE GEORGE-SMITHERS AREA, 1943-45

$
pie Xave) enc UN podunoad suite aad cuneinae yon AU MREa ASS et cau rs berg Sees 603
Operated | during hyedny hours pes anaiaen ny neers let tein cnnuaias 301
Operating costs per hour
Fuel
Repairs

Interestiati5 om rete iy wane e ow ceo were aint ert SL AUP ee aie MEa 0- 10

Depreciapion eye smash cisely sate mercer ere sae oie el a RR 0-33

ANAL ig anau rnc Ont pn se Ce GER HSea Th GRR CREAT GARas Soa eae 1-08
INCOME

“Family labour earnings” and “family farm surplus” have been used to express
the financial results of the year’s business. The two figures express the net return
to farm operators in forms suitable for different purposes.