COST OF FARMING OPERATIONS 



employed? It is here that most mistakes are 

 made in estimating possible farm profits. 

 Necessarily, all statistical averages of pro- 

 duction are much below those which an en- 

 terprising farmer considers an average crop 

 and habitually produces. Not more than 

 50% increase upon these figures, however, 

 should be anticipated by reason of the im- 

 proved methods which one is going to 

 employ. 



While the average yield of maize, even in 

 the so-called corn states, is not far from 30 

 bushels an acre, and while it is quite com- 

 mon for good farmers to produce 60 to 75 

 bushels of maize per acre, it would not be 

 safe to assume a yield of more than 45 bush- 

 els unless the conditions are more than 

 ordinarily favorable. 



The application of the averages given on 

 pages 149-150 to an individual farm enter- 

 prise may be illustrated by calculating the 

 possible results which might be obtained 

 on 80 acres of arable land in Iowa and 

 Pennsylvania with the four great soil pro- 

 ducts of northern United States. 



