136 KNAPP METHOD OF GROWING COTTON 



production of the cotton or the yield per acre 

 for a series of years and the variations or 

 fluctuations will be quite noticeable. These 

 rather wide differences are due largely to 

 causes over which the farmer has no control. 

 The same general plan of crop management on 

 the same land with the same amount of fertil- 

 izer, teams, and labor may have been used 

 each year and still the yields vary a great deal. 

 The total crop production on the same acreage 

 with practically the same expenses frequently 

 varies as much as 25 per cent, in two successive 

 seasons. These extreme fluctuations make a 

 wide margin between the cost of production and 

 the selling price necessary for the farmer to 

 come out with an average profit in the crop. 

 The elements of uncertainty which enter into 

 the production of every crop, make it impossible 

 to estimate the cost. 



The business man or the manufacturer can 

 figure with some degree of certainty as to what 

 his running expenses will be. He can also 

 make a pretty close estimate of what the out- 

 put of his factory or business will reach during 

 the year. It often happens that the manu- 

 facturer knows just what he is to receive for his 



