252 



THE HOP. 



carrying pickers, $15; man at kiln 15 nights, at $1.25 per 

 night, $18.75; use of kiln-cloth $3 (it cost $45 for 900 Ibs. at 

 5c), a total of $317.75, or 3.9c per Ib. of cured hops. Insur- 

 ance was $3500 on hop house for 30 days at 40c per $100, mak- 

 ing $14, and $2000 for balance of year at $12. Work is 

 charged for at its local market value. Total cost a trifle 

 over 12c per lb.,and i s he sold for 13c,he made a slight profit 

 over and above fair return for his labor and capital. The 

 operating expenses were 8.5c per Ib. sold, fixed charges 3.7c, 

 or a total cost of 12.2c per Ib. of hops. If $30 worth of the 

 $88 spent for fertilizers is allowed to be i the soil for the 

 next crop, the net operating expense of this 1897 crop was 

 $663.25, or $66.35 per acre. Adding depreciation and taxes, 

 $259, the total cost of production is $922 for the ten acres, 

 or, say, $92 per acre. Deduct this total cost from the receipts 

 for the crop, and the balance of $126 represents the net re- 

 turns on the $750 invested in the land, or 17 per cent. Or, if 

 we figure the investment at $3250 (including land, $750, poles 

 $810, building $1600, tools $90), the difference of $395 between 

 operating expenses ($663) and receipts ($1058) represents the 

 net earnings on the investment, and shows a net income on 

 such investment of nearly 13 per cent. In the table the items 

 are arranged in the order that the work was done. 



Ten acres, 



One acre. 



Setting poles at 20c per 100 



Grubbing by hand 



Two-horse cultivator, once both ways 



Tying np shoots, four women at 75c per day 



Twine and labor putting on 



Tying, trimming, training (women) 



Cultivating again, both ways. . . 



Fertilizing (four tons hardwood ashes at $12, one 

 ton bone meal $40) 



Handling, mixing and applying fertilizers about 

 hills 



Twine, and putting on 



Hilling, shovel-plow one way and hoeing 



Last two cultivatiugs (lightly), tying up broken 

 vines, etc 



Harvesting and curing (details above) 



Brimstone $3, fuel $8, insurance $26 



Baling at 20c per bale 



Stacking poles, covering hills for winter 



Delivering crop at station 



Operating expenses for crop 



Fixed charges (interest on land at 6 per cent., $42; 

 depreciation of poles at 10 per cent., $81 ; de- 

 preciation on kilns, tools, boxes, etc., $169; 



taxes, $9) 



, Total cost of crop 



8140 Ibs. hops sold and netted 



Net balance 



$13.50 

 25.00 

 12.00 

 9.00 

 40.00 

 30.00 

 10.00 



88.00 



7.00 

 40.00 

 20.00 



15.00 

 317.75 

 37.00 



9.00 

 15.00 



5.00 



$1.35 

 2.50 

 1.20 

 90 

 4.00 

 3.00 

 1.00 



8.80 



.70 

 4.00 

 2.00 



1.50 

 31.77 

 3.70 



.90 

 1.50 



.50 



$693.25 



301.00 



$69.32 



30.10 



$994.25 



1,058.20 



$53.95 



$99.42 

 105.82 

 $5.40 



MADISON COUNTY, N. Y. L. W. Griswold gives his 

 estimate of cost of raising one acre of hops in the table be- 

 low. Dividing the total cost by 1000 Ibs., which is certainly 



