SPECIAL FARM TOPICS 197 



Compared with the grasses, grains, and most other general farm 

 crops, tobacco may be classed as one of relatively high commercial 

 value. As each unit of increase in production in a high-value crop 

 is worth more, expenditures to increase production will be found 

 relatively more profitable. This may be illustrated as follows : 



Suppose that under certain conditions corn without fertilizer 

 yields 25 bushels per acre. Even if intelligently expended, under 

 most conditions it would probably take $25 worth of fertilizer to 

 increase this yield to 50 bushels per acre. With corn at 50 cents 

 per bushel, the fertilizer would cost more than the corn is worth. 

 The higher money-value crop of tobacco, however, shows different 

 results. Take a case in which tobacco without fertilizer would pro- 

 duce 600 pounds per acre. Intelligently expended, an application 

 of fertilizer costing $25 an acre would usually increase the yield 

 to upward of 1,200 pounds to the acre. At 8 cents a pound this 

 600 pounds increase in production would amply justify the expen- 

 ditures for fertilizer. This example can be extended by farmers 

 to many other crops. 



Considering the matter in another light, it is apparent that 

 an increase in the commercial value of any product will warrant 

 an additional expenditure to obtain each increased unit of produc- 

 tion. At 6 cents a pound for tobacco, 400 pounds increase in yield 

 will just pay for the use of $24 worth of fertilizer; at 8 cente a 

 pound, it will take but 300 pounds increase to pay the fertilizer 

 bill; at 10 cents, 240 pounds. This illustration, however, is not 

 to be taken as an argument for the use of $25 worth of fertilizer 

 on tobacco or against the use of it on corn. 



Generally speaking, then, tobacco, being a high-value crop, 

 justifies a greater expenditure for fertilizer and greater care in soil 

 preparation, cultivation, and handling than do other general farm 

 crops of lower commercial value. It is also true that as tobacco 

 increases or decreases in price so does the profit resulting from fer- 

 tilization increase or decrease; that is, tobacco at 10 cents a pound 

 is more likely to pay for increased expenditures in production than 

 tobacco at a lower price, and the percentage of profit for the in- 

 crease in expense is higher at 10 cents than it is at a lower price. 



It is also true that tobacco is peculiarly subject to variations 

 in price, owing to differences in quality resulting from the methods 

 employed; and it frequently, in fact usually, happens that better 

 fertilizing, preparation of the soil, cultivation, and handling not 

 only increase the yield, but result in a materially better average 

 price for the crop, conditions of soil, climate, etc., remaining the 

 same. (Y. B. 1908.) 



One cotton farm in the South, previously badly managed and 

 run down, was changed by progressive farm operations, combining 

 thorough tillage, crop rotation, barnyard manure and commercial 

 fertilizers, into a very productive and profitable enterprise. 



The present owner was a farmer of experience when he pur- 

 chased the farm, and he knew the value of the rotation of crops, 

 thorough tillage, and the importance of decaying organic matter, 



