256 



INDIAN COEN. 



It is here apparent that if it takes five pounds of 

 corn, in addition to the other feed, to produce a pound 

 of beef, the latter, even at five cents a pound, pays 

 eighty-four cents per bushel for the corn, and six dol- 

 lars per ton for the stalks. Now, if the farmer's 

 corn costs him thirty cents per bushel to produce it, 

 which is about the average cost of production for the 

 whole country, then it leaves him a margin of fifty- 

 four cents per bushel, out of which he can pay for 

 grinding the grain and chaffing the stalks, and a profit 

 will still remain. 



But if he succeeds in raising his corn at a cost of 

 twenty-five cents per bushel, and converting it into 

 beef at the rate of four pounds for one, both of which 

 are entirely possible, then at the average market price 

 of beef for the last six years, he makes a profit on his 



