714 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



ears at harvest-time. During the time that corn is stored in the crib 

 the shrinkage is greatest. Weights taken weekly during an entire year 

 on some 7000 pounds stored in a crib built on the platform of a scale 

 showed some variations due to weather. The shrinkage during the year 

 was 9 per cent, of the original weight for the first three months, 5 4-7 

 per cent, for the second, 3 1-7 per cent, for the third, and 2 5-7 per cent, 

 for the last three months. The loss for the entire year amounted to 1,430 

 pounds, or a little more than 20 per cent. In another test, where the 

 corn used was in a much drier condition and the rainfall for the season 

 was less, the total shrinkage for the year was 9 2-7 per cent." 



"Corn shrinks more than any other grain. Experiments have shown 

 that corn when in a condition to crib dries considerably through the 

 winter. A thousand pounds will shrink 115, or 11 1-2 per cent. This 

 shrinkage, with the interest on the investment for six months, would 

 make eorn that is worth 50 cents when cribbed worth 60 cents next spring, 

 to say nothing of waste and extra handling, which in many instances 

 is as much or more. A knowledge of these facts causee the thoughtful corn 

 grower to hasten the sale of the new crop before it is thoroughly dried, 

 for there is not often reason to expect a 10 or 12 per cent increase in 

 price by keeping it, nor do they expect consumers to pay that amount 

 more for corn a year old than they would obtain new corn for. If you 

 determine to sell your crop, let it go as soon as the buyer will take it." 



According to information collected by the MissouFi Agricultural Col- 

 lege, the farmer who puts his corn in a crib to hold it for better prices 

 can count on a loss by the next June of at least fifteen per cent.; that 

 is to say, leaving out of account the cost of handling and loss by waste, 

 30 cents a bushel for the crop at gathering-time is better than 35 cents the 

 next spring. 



COST OP PRODUCING A BUSHEL OF CORN IN MADISON COUNTY. 



Ernest Mueller, before Madison County Farmers' Institute. 



The question of producing a bushel of corn is often overlooked by the 

 average farmer. 



The cost varies with the amount of labor put upon an acre of land in 

 an indirect ratio. It is understood that no farmer will put so much labor 

 in his cornfield as to cause diminishing of returns. 



Since labor is the chief factor in the cost of producing a bushel of 

 corn it will be well to figure from that basis. From observations and 

 experience it can b» closely estimated what a team and man can do in a 

 day and what the cost will be. Rent of land can be figured in the 

 neighborhood of $4.00 per acre. 



