83 



and hogs. Stock-cattle sold iu Noveoiber at 4 cents per pound ; hogs, 3^ cents per 

 pound; fat cattle are now worth 5^ cents per pound, and fat hogs f) cents per pound. 

 "We feed our cattle on shock-corn, that is, the corn, fodder and all. "We keep two hogs 

 to take up the waste or litter of each steer. Thus our stock at the cost price in Novem- 

 ber, and at the present prices of fat stock, will make us 60 cents per bushel for our 

 corn, which we consider a good price, where one hand can cultivate 40 acres of corn, 

 ruaking 50 bushels to the acre, equal to 2,000 bushels ; this, at 60 cents per bushel, would 

 foot up $1,200, a very profitable return for 40 acres of land, and the labor of one man. 



Missouiii. — Balls : Corn pays a profit from $12.50 to $15 per acre ; wheat, from $9 to 

 $9.90 per acre; and oats from $9 to $10.50 per acre. Dallas: Notwithstanding the 

 light yield of our corn, .still it was the most profitable crop that we had, as the price 

 ■per bushel has been in advance of the prices obtained for several years past ; also 

 where the crop has been used in making pork and the pork packed at home, it prom- 

 ises to pay very well. 



Kansas. — Linn : Oue man can farm 50 acres of corn, which if fed to growing stock 

 nets more money than any other work. Eiley : Careful accounts for the past five years 

 kept on one farm have shown the wheat account in debt .$80, while the corn shows a 

 profit of $110. Cloud : The raising of corn, which has been sold to feeders at 20 and 25 

 cents per bushel, and according to their own statements they will realize 60 cents per 

 bushel. Woodson : One farmer states that he ci-ibbed 1,100 bushels of corn from 25 

 acres, for which he has been ofi^"ered 25 cents per bushel. The cost of an acre he reckons 

 as follows: preparing ground, including plowing, harrowing, and laying out, $2; 

 planting, 50 cents ; cultivating, .$1 ; picking, $1.50 ; total, $5. The crop averaged about 

 40 bushels to the acre, and at 40 cents per bushel would be worth .$16 per acre, less the 

 expenses, $5 per acre, leaving a profit of $11 per acre. 



WHEAT. 



The simi)licity of the process of cultivating aud i)reparing- for mar- 

 ket, the comparatively small amount of labor and expense required, a 

 constant cash market, and the quickness of the returns — that is, the 

 short interval between theoutgo for seed and labor and the income from 

 sale of the crop — are among the reasons advanced in favor of wheat as 

 a desirable and profitable crop. The drawbacks are that it is a very 

 uncertain crop, and, as it is never fed out on the farm beyond what is 

 needed for family use, it is constantly taking from the soil without any 

 return, and hence, where cultivated as a specialty, there is apt to be a 

 stead^^ decrease iu the average yield. 



Pennsylvania. — Lawrence : I give the result of my experience on 10 acres of clover- 

 sod ; plowed under in August, 1872, and on September 14, drilled in with Fultz wheat. 

 Expenses : Plowing, $30 ; harrowing twice, $10 ; drilling, $7.50 ; 10 bushels of seed- 

 wheat, $20 ; harvesting and thrashing, $55 ; interest on 10 acres, at $100 per acre, 6 per 

 cent., $60; total, $182.50; returns, 230 bushels of wheat, $1.75 per bushel, $402.50; 

 profit, $230. Lycoming: The crop was remarkably good. Lebanon: Average yield 

 about 20 bushels per acre, which, at $1.60 per bushel, and the straw ^10, makes $42 

 per acre. Some of the best farmers averaged 25 bushels per acre. Corn comes next ; 

 best farmers averaged about 50 bushels per acre, which, at 55 cents per bushel, and 

 fodder $12, equals $39.50. Northampton : My own crop was greatly in excess of that of 

 1872, in quantity, quality, and weight ; every bushel has exceeded iu weight the legal 

 standard, and it is so generally in the whole county. 



Maryland. — Montgomery : I put $500 worth of fertilizers on my crop; had 1,300 

 bushels, at $1.80 per bushel, $2,340, leaving |1,840 for labor, seed, and profit, and a part 

 of the elfect of fertilizers for after crops. 



"V^iRGiNLi. — Xortlunnierla'nd : When Peruvian or fish guano have been applied, say 

 200 pounds of the former and 400 of the latter, the yield has been 20 to 30 bushels per 

 acre. Essex : The average yield of wheat was about 5 bushels per acre, worth at $1.60, 

 $8; straw, $2 ; cost of production, $4.70 ; net profit per acre, $5.30. The yield of wheat 

 on improved lands was 15 to 25 bushels per acre. I was at much pains to ascei'tain 

 the result when a good dressing of barn-j'ard manure was given, and the yield wa.9 

 never less than 15 bushels per acre. The application of commercial manures did not 

 give the yield that was exjjected. 



North Carolina.— i^oj-s^//i- : Price, from $1.25 to $2. 



Tkxa.s. — Basque : The average of yield of wheat per acre is 20 bushels, and average 

 price $1.25— $25. The expenses per acre: 1 bu.shel of seed, $1.25; seeding, $2.25 ; har- 

 vesting and thra.shing, $5.50; total, $9: net profit, $16. Wheat is also much better in 

 this region for being pastured, and is worth about $6 per acre as a winter pasture. 



