86 Report of Fakmeks' Institutes 



crops, interest fit tlie prevailing rate sliould be charged on this 

 investment, 



ISTot until all of these costs have been considered can a person 

 arrive at the real cost of crop production. If one knows the value 

 of the crop after it is produced he can go a step farther and 

 determine the profit. 



The Department of Farm Management in cooperation with 

 the Office of Farm Management at Washington, I). C, is keeping 

 cost accounts on about seventy farms in this state. The system 

 used, originated by Dr. G. F. Warren, is one that requires the use 

 of two books — ledger and work report. In the work report is 

 kept a record of the hours of man and horse labor that are 

 expended on each enterprise. At the end of the year the time 

 spent on each crop is totaled, and each enterprise is made to pay 

 for its proportion of the cost of man and horse labor. The 

 machinery costs are distributed according to the hours of horse 

 labor. In the ledger are kept all items other than the hours of 

 labor, each enterprise being given a space. On the left hand 

 pages all costs are kept ; on the right hand side all returns. Hav- 

 ing entered and totaled all the charges to the various accounts, the 

 costs can be determined. 



The following results have been obtained in this manner. They 

 are from farms located in different sections of the state, and are 

 from farmers' farms and not from rich men's estates. The results 

 for each crop have been averaged. Since the results will vary 

 with the seasons, figures for two years, 1913 and 1914, are given. 



COST OF PRODUCING POTATOES 



1913 



Number of farms 18 



Number of acres 185 . 4 



Average acres per farm 10.3 



Average yield per acre in bushels .... 102 . 7 



Cost of growing per acre Amount 



Seed 10 bu. 



Fertilizer 412 lbs. 



Manure 



Spray materials 



Man labor 77 . 7 hr. 



Horse labor 77 . 4 hr. 



Equipment use 



Use of land, at 6 per cent 



Use of buildings, at 8 per cent 



Interest, at 5 per cent 



All other costs 



Total cost of growing $53 74 S£8 07 



