COST OF PKODUCINQ OATS 185 



is grown under irrigation, the cost of production is also high- 

 High values are also prevalent In New England. In the 

 South, the high price makes up in part for the low yield, so 

 that the acre value is about as high as the average for the 

 entire country. The lowest acre values are found in the 

 states of largest production, where medium yields are com- 

 bined with low price per bushel. The average value per 

 acre for the entire United States for the five years from 1913 

 to 1917 was about $15.74. The value in the New England, 

 Rocky Mountain, and Pacific states in 1918 ranged from $25 

 to $38. In Ilhnois, on account of an unusual combination 

 of high yield and high price, the acre value was $33.80, as 

 compared with an average of $14.00 for the previous five 

 years. 



227. Cost of Production. The most definite figures on 

 the cost of producing an acre or a bushel of oats are those 

 collected by the Bureau of Statistics and the Minnesota 

 Experiment Station. These figures showed a cost of from 

 $7 to $10 an acre, or from 23 to 31 cents a bushel in 1909. 

 In Illinois, the cost of production of the average crop of 

 oats is estimated at 35 cents a bushel. A general investiga- 

 tion of this subject was reported by the Bureau of Statistics 

 in the Crop Reporter for June, 1911, where estimates of 

 some five thousand correspondents in all parts of the country 

 on the cost of producing oats in the year 1909 are tabulated. 

 The average of all reports showed a cost of $10.91 an acre, 

 or 31 cents a bushel. The average farm value of the crop 

 that year was placed at $14.08 an acre, or 40 cents a bushel. 

 The items included in the cost totals were commercial fer- 

 tilizers, preparation of the land, seed, planting, harvesting, 

 preparation for marketing, land rental or interest on land 

 values, and miscellaneous items of expense. The largest 

 single item was rent, averaging $3.78 an acre; then followed 

 preparation of the land, $1.88; preparing for market (thresh- 

 ing, grading, etc.), $1.51; harvesting, $1.34; and seed, $1.12. 



