186 FIELD CROPS 



The average net return from the grain was $3.17 an acre, to 

 which should be added the value of the by-products, $1.42, 

 making an average total profit of $4.59 an acre. All items 

 of cost, particularly labor, are now (1918) much higher than 

 in 1909. The value of the crop is also much higher, as shown 

 in the preceding paragraphs. 



The cost per bushel in 1909 in the five states of greatest 

 production was: in Iowa, 29 cents; Illinois, 30 cents; Wis- 

 consin, 31 cents; Minnesota, 28 cents; and Nebraska, 30 

 cents. These figures show a margin of from 5 to 11 cents 

 net profit when compared with the farm prices for the same 

 year. When the value of the by-products is added, the net 

 return per acre was $3.34 in Iowa; in Illinois, $3.79; Wisconsin, 

 $6.24; Minnesota, $3.93; and Nebraska, $2.09. The 

 highest cost of production recorded was for Maine, $20.64 

 per acre, with a net return including the value of the by- 

 products of $6.52; the lowest cost was for North Dakota, 

 $8.71, with a net return of $3.47. The highest net return for 

 any state was for New Hampshire, $16.57 an acre, and the 

 lowest, for Nebraska, $2.09. 



These figures show that there is ordinarily little profit in 

 growing oats where low average yields are obtained, par- 

 ticularly when the value of the straw is not taken into con- 

 sideration. It is probable that crops of oats of less than 25 

 bushels to the acre are usually produced at a loss, though in 

 the South the high value per bushel sometimes returns a 

 profit from yields of 20 bushels or even less. 



RELATION TO OTHER CROPS 



228. Place in the Rotation. In Iowa, Illinois, and the 

 other states of the corn belt, oats usually follow corn. A 

 common rotation where winter wheat is not grown in this 

 section consists of two crops of corn, followed by a crop of 

 oats and one or more crops of grass or clover. In Maine, 

 Minnesota, and other states where potatoes are an important 



