30 The Farmstead 



production from a given area. If he raises the 

 yield from 20 to 35 bushels, while the yield of 

 his neighbor remains at 10 bushels and prices 

 remain low, we shall soon see a fine illustration 

 of "the survival of the fittest." The 35 bushels 

 will yield a fair remuneration for the work 

 expended in production when prices are at the 

 lowest. When they are high the profits are 200 

 to 300 per cent. Wheat-, for the last ten years, 

 has averaged 84 cents per bushel in June in 

 central New York. Allow $3 for the straw of 

 the lower yield, and if the wheat was sold at 

 the average price, the total income per acre 

 would be $11.40. For the straw of the larger 

 yield allow $6, which, added to the wheat at the 

 average price, would give a gross income per 

 acre of $35.40. 



The cost of raising and marketing an acre of 

 wheat, including $5 for rental of land and $2 

 for fertilizers, may be set down at from $15 to 

 $20 in New York. If the most successful com- 

 pels the less successful farmer to stop raising 

 wheat at a loss, what will the latter do with his 

 land ? Better give it away than lose by farming 

 it. Better abandon the farm and go to town and 

 set up a second-hand clothing store. There is 

 always at least a small profit in that business. 



In central New York a large herd of dairy 

 cows was tested, and the owner of the herd 



