136 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



The first cost of a machine is less than the cost of treating forty 

 acres with poison once, and the same publicity that will arouse a com- 

 munity to action in the line of poisoning mixtures will get the machines 

 biiilt. 



The cost of treating one hundred acres by each method, using aver- 

 age fluctuations in prices previous to the war, will give a better idea of 

 the problem. 



Cost of Application of Poison Bran Mash Per 100 Acres 



Low High 



500 lbs. bran @ $20-$25 per ton $5.00 $6.25 



20 lbs. Paris green @ 30(i 6.00 



or 20 lbs. white arsenic @ lOji 2.00 



12 gal. molasses 6.00 12.00 



10 doz. oranges and lemons 2 . 50 4 . 00 



Total cost of material - $15.50 $28.25 



Labor, mixing and sowing 5 days @ $2-$2.50 10.00 12.50 



Total cost of treatment $25.50 $40.75 



Cost per acre — one application 25 .40 



Cost of Machine and Operation on 100 Acres 



Low High 



15 sheets tin, 20 x 30, @ 2Q-2H $3.00 $3.75 



64 sq. ft. wire netting @ 3-5f5 2.00 3.20 



80 ft. of inch lumber @ $20-$40 1 .60 3.20 



32 board ft. of 2 x 4 @ $25 80 .85 



Nails, bolts, hinges, catches, etc 60 1 . 00 



Total cost of material $8.00 $12.00 



Labor, building .' 3.00 6.00 



Total cost of machine ». . .$11 .00 $18.00 



2| days — man and team running machine 9 . 00 12 . 00 



$20.00 $30.00 



Cost per acre 20 .30 



Cost per acre (later treatment) 09 .12 



From these tables it will be seen that the cost of one application of 

 poison bait will vary from 25 to 40 cents per acre, while the cost of a 

 machine for the same acreage would only amount to 20 to 30 cents per 

 acre, and you would have the machine left for future use, so that later 

 treatments would only cost from 9 to 12 cents per acre, where poison 

 bait would cost from 25 to 40 cents. 



Studying these tables from the standpoint of cash outlay, which is 

 often of great importance to the farmer, it will be seen that the treat- 

 ment of 100 acres by poison would require a cash outlay of !rom $15.50 



