146 



FARM MANAGEMENT 



100. Land is a small part of the cost of crop produc- 

 tion. Labor is in nearly all cases the most important 

 item in cost of production. Highest profits can only be 

 secured when proper attention is given to all the factors 

 of cost. But if only one factor is singled out as the im- 

 portant one it should be labor and not land. Under con- 

 ditions of very extensive farming in Minnesota on new land 

 that is not fertilized, the use of land varied from 11 to 51 

 per cent of the total cost. 



TABLE 23. RELATION OP LAND COST TO TOTAL COST OF CROP 

 PRODUCTION IN MINNESOTA l 



1 Minnesota, Bulletin 117. 



As land becomes more valuable, the usual assumption 

 is that rent will constitute a larger proportion of the cost. 

 The opposite is more likely to be true, because more in- 

 tensive crops and more intensive methods are then used. 

 The average for a very successful New York farm is given 

 in Table 24. Land is worth $100 per acre, so that rent is 

 higher, but it constitutes only 6 to 50 per cent of the total 

 cost of production, depending on the crop. 



101. Profits per acre and profits per farmer. A 

 potato crop that may return $50 per acre, or a lettuce 



