AN ECONOMIC STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION OF CANNING CROPS 19 



Seed 



With the exception of human labor, seed was the largest single item 

 in the cost of producing peas in 1920. The seed is supplied to the farmers 

 by the canning companies. Very little of it is produced in New York 

 State. The price of seed was higher in 1920 than the price which farmers 

 paid the company. The difference is a part of the cost of raw product 

 to the company. If seed cost $6 a bushel and was charged at $4, the 

 additional cost per ton of shelled peas with a yield of 2000 pounds per acre 

 would be $8. The canners call this item " seed loss " and recognize it 

 as one of their costs. 



This practice of not charging peas to the farmer at cost partially dis- 

 tributes the risk of loss in case of crop failure. Seed is not paid for when 

 planted, but the cost is deducted from payment for the crop. In case 

 of crop failure, the farmer usually stands the loss up to the amount at 

 which the seed is charged to him. With seed at $4 a bushel and peas 

 at 4 cents a pound, it required 400 pounds of shelled peas to pay for the 

 seed. On only one of the 262 farms on which figures for the 1920 crop 

 were obtained was the yield per acre less than 400 pounds. The seed 

 loss per ton of peas harvested is greater in years when the average yield 

 per acre is low than in years when the yield per acre is high, as the loss 

 per acre is fixed. 



The quantity of peas most commonly sown per acre was four bushels 

 (table 9). In most sections the price of seed was $4 a bushel. In the 

 Steuben area it was $3.50 a bushel. This difference in the price of seed 

 made a difference of $2 per acre in the cost of producing peas. 



TABLE 9. FARMS USING DIFFERENT QUANTITIES OF SEED PER ACRE, 

 262 FARMS, 1920 



Fertilizer 



Fertilizer was not a very large item in the cost of producing peas. The 

 extent to which fertilizer was used is shown in table 10. The principal 

 fertilizing material was some form of phosphorus. Practically half of 

 all the fertilizer used was acid phosphate, and the balance was some kind 

 of mixed fertilizer in which phosphorus was the principal constituent 

 (table n). 



