1836 RURAL ECONOMICS 



horse labor, of growing a bushel of corn, and raising a pound of beef etc. The 

 farm management surveys made in the last few years by cooperation of the 

 Government and various state universities, have stirred up a demand for 

 practical, simple systems of farm bookkeeping. 



During the fall of the year, when the bulk of farm cash comes in, and 

 the results of the year's work become apparent, a farm's accounts begin point- 

 ing the wa3^ to a revision of methods. Some crops have required more work 

 than was estimated; machinerj^ repairs count up to an unexpected total; plow- 

 ing with a tractor costs more than the 50 cents per acre estimated when the 

 tractor was bought ; every revision of farm methods introduces uncertainty 

 as to farm incomes ; the necessity for exact information becomes very day 

 more acute. 



It is admittedly becoming diihcult to figure a generous interest on land 

 values. This of itself is driving ambitious farmers to keep accounts, so as 

 to eliminate wasteful methods. The young farmer, who is trying to pay for 

 land from its products, is driven to some such expedient. The evolution 

 of efficient farm cost accounting systems will be therefore a great achieve- 

 ment, and progressive farmers who will take advantage of them, will be put 

 further above the average of their fellows. 



1318 - Fixing the Price of Milk. — Boccmccmo X.,in // CoUiva1nn\ No. 28, pp. 298-302 

 Casale Monferrato, October lo, 1916. 



In Italy it is generally considered that the milk produced by a cow should 

 pay for the food consumed, the manure more than pay for the litter and the 

 calf be left over as profit. The cost of the milk therefore varies directly with 

 the cost of the food and inversely with the amount of milk produced or 



where p — cost of milk per annum 

 F = " " food " 

 I = amount of milk produced per annum 



25 per cent should be added to p for profit and risk of owner, and in all 

 large towns another 4^ a gallon should be added for extra expenses connected 

 with the production and distribution of the milk. 



The cost of milk diminishes with the size of the cow as the food con- 

 sumed is usually' 12 times the cow's weight of hay or hay equivalents. So, 

 provided she produces as much milk as a larger animal, the small cow is 

 the more economical. Where the cows are used for draught purposes the 

 production of milk is smaller, but the cost of the food is then lowered b)' the 

 value of the work done, according to the formula f = V - L/l where L = the 

 value of the work done. L is usually greater than the value of the difference 

 in the production of milk, and it is for this reason that milk is cheaper in 

 small rural communities where the supply is drawn from the double purpose 

 cow. As a general rule, the price of milk at the farm may be said to be equal 

 to about twice the cost of the food, and the retail price in towns is about 50 

 per cent higher. 



