THE COST OF CORN GROWING (>*] 



" the best farmed land in the county." ^ Of the crops, 58 



per cent were sold, making a return for wheat of 



i ;{J"2 6s I id, barley, £2 19s lod, and oats ;!^i 14s 2d per 



i acre. The 42 per cent, of corn used at home is put at — 



wheat, ;^i 15s 4d, barley at £1 os lod, oats at ;^3 7s. 



I The total money returns from each crop are — wheat, 



\ £/\. I2S 3d, barley, £^ os pd, oats, £^ 3s 3d, or an 



average on all of £^ 5 s 2d. 



According to these figures, on the best farmed land 

 of a county where scientific farming has worked wonders, 

 the returns in 1894 left nothing or less than nothing over 

 working expenses either in the way of rent for landlord, 

 or tithe, rates and taxes, or interest for tenant. If all 

 the straw were sold at a fair price, ends would not be 

 made to meet. 



Mr Nunneley, a Northamptonshire farmer, who has 

 farmed heavy land successfully, holds that wheat costs 

 just under ;^5 an acre, plus rent. At 30s a quarter, four 

 quarters would just repay expenses, and pay 20s rent, 

 and you would have the straw for the profit. 



Mr W. J. Harris, who thinks that the average ad- 

 vantage the foreign producer has, in cost of production 

 and expenses, till his wheat is marketed in England, is 

 about 40s an acre, says, " There is a fair acreage through- 

 out England that is so fine that it would compete (with 

 imports) even under present conditions, especially if you 

 allow the sale of the straw, or a portion of it." 



With a liberal allowance for exaggeration consequent 

 on a state of panic, such as Mr Rew describes in Norfolk 

 in 1894, it must be admitted that, even with the small 

 rise in prices in the present year, the staple crops of 

 arable farming have ceased to pay any return which can 

 keep up their cultivation. If a narrow margin can be 

 got, it must be by the sale of straw at full market, and 

 not at consuming, prices. It is true that a certain relief 

 comes from the low price of seed corn and of fertilisers 

 to replace the farmyard manure, if straw is sold off. But 

 any such " set-off" is trifling, and unless prices rise above 

 at least a minimum of 30s for wheat and barley, it will 



' Rew, Norfolk, pp. 30, 25, 



