1909-] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 15 



the corn crops liave drawn upon the nitrogen compounds formed 

 when the clover roots and stubble decayed for a large proportion 

 of the needed sui)ply of this element. 



The Labor Cost. — The acre of corn referred to in this dis- 

 cussion is laid out in plots, and is not managed under conditions 

 which have made it j)ossible to determine with any accuracy 

 what would be the actual cost of labor under the usual farm 

 conditions. The following estimate is based upon the labor 

 cost of producing a corn crop in fields of considerable size, suf- 

 ficiently free from obstructions to allow the free use of ma- 

 chinery : — 



Labor Cost of the Corn Crop per Acre. 



Plowing-, .......... 



Harrowing, three times, 



Planting by machine, ....... 



Cultivating once with the harrow and twice with the weeder, 



Cultivating with horse cultivator, three times, . 



Cutting out weeds with hoes, once, ..... 



Cutting with harvester, and shocking-, .... 



Husking- at 10 cents per bushel of shelled grain. 



Total, $20 08 



Additional Costs. — In addition to the fertilizer and labor 

 costs, we must include the following items : — 



For seed, $0 50 



Annual tax on the value of the land, . . . . . . 1 50 



Interest on the value of the land, 5 00 



Total, $7 00 



Total Cost of Ci'op. — Adding together the three items, fer- 

 tilizers, labor and miscellaneous, we obtain the grand total cost 

 of $45.08. The average yield of stover has been a little more 

 than 2^2 tons. This must be worth at least $8 per ton for feed- 

 ing out upon the farm. If, then, we deduct the value of the 21/2 

 tons, $20, from the $45.08, we have the net cost of the grain, 

 $25.08. The average product has been about 56 bushels. The 

 average cost per bushel on the basis of the above calculations 

 must therefore have amounted to about 45 cents. 



