654 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the horse costs about one-half of that, as horses, feed and pasture are 

 cheaper. The horse includes the use of the harness and the repair bills. 

 I found that it cost 22 cents a day to keep a horse and figured the man 

 at $1.35 — $1.80 per day for man and team. That is the cost to us. It 

 may cost more or less upon other farms and under other conditions. It is 

 almost impossible to get the exact cost, but if we make an effort to do so 

 we will come a great deal nearer to it than by guessing. 



ADDING UP EVERY ITEJI OF LABOR. 



We keep a work book at Hazel Dell farm. It takes but five or ten 

 minutes to write it up every evening. This diary gives the name of each 

 man who worked and states the kind of work, how long he worked and in 

 what field. Here is a sample record: 



"John Jackson cultivated corn, field number 3, second time over, two 

 horses, half day; started binder and cut wheat in field number 5. three 

 horses, half day." 



By running over this book at the end of the season we can easily get 

 the number of days spent in working each field and with the price per 

 man and per horse, can figure the cost of the crop grown in that field. 

 There is certain labor on the farm which must be charged to the place as 

 a general expense, and not per acre to any crop. For instance, a forty- 

 acre field of corn may have four sides fenced. This fence is not for the 

 benefit of the corn, but for the purpose of keeping live stock, and it should 

 be charged to the live stock. We found it was more expensive to rake 

 and burn stalks than it was to disk the land. 



COST OF PRODUCING ONE ACRE OF CORN. 



We have found, by the careful figuring of every item, the average cost 

 for three years of growing an acre of corn, as follows: 



Work with the stalks $ . 12 



Plowing 80 



Working the ground 60 



Planting 18 



Seed 15 



Cultivating 1.07 



Husking 1.72 



Wear and repair 40 



Total $5.04 



Credit to stalk-fleld 60 



Net cost of one acre of corn $4.44 



These accounts, kept similarly, will vary in different sections of the 

 State, as the cost of labor varies, the average being higher in the northern 

 and lowed in the southern part. We never haul an ear of corn to market 

 and so I have put in nothing for marketing the corn. Another three years 

 the cost might vary somewhat from the above, but not very much. We 

 must have land upon which to grow corn and should figure rent or interest 

 upon this investment, in addition to the above labor. But do not put this 

 too high. The safer investment always bears a low rate of interest. 



Similar figures for a crop of wheat are as follows: 



