a day, at a cost of 10s. ; to this must be added the cost 

 of horse, cart, and man, taking to the station, and load- 

 ing on truck, another 6s. If, however, the potatoes 

 are both dirty and diseased, the expense is greatly 

 increased. At the time of writing this we have eight 

 men at a pit where the potatoes were grown on strong 

 land, which was wet from heavy rains at the time of 

 digging, and they cannot rub off the dirt and make 

 two tons marketable in a day. On a ten-ton crop, on 

 winter wages, this cost at the rate of 4 per acre. An 

 extra cost of 16s. per acre is incurred, under most 

 favourable circumstances, if the potatoes are pitted ; 

 and as has been shown, it may amount to 4 or more 

 per acre when things are unfavourable. The cost of 

 cleaning is not incurred because they are pitted in a 

 dirty condition, for had they been sold when dug it 

 would have been necessary to clean them, but the 

 expense must be added to the cost of producing an 

 acre. 



Variations in Cost of Crop. 



A shrewd and capable farmer is able to make a 

 saving on some of the items given in the list of costs, 

 which another, less skilled, might increase. As a rule 

 we save some of the cost of working by using the 

 steam drag harrows in spring. Planting by the aid of 

 potato-planting machines, if slightly less accurate, 

 reduces the cost per acre ; but, of course, there is the 

 first expense of purchase of the machine to be con- 

 sidered. The cost of manure is one which is subject 

 to alteration. Less may be used if the land is in good 



