COST OF PRODUCTION. 219 



Interest on money invested in ground, houses, etc $210 



Repairs 280 



Fuel 125 



Labor 350 



Incidentals..... 100 



Total, $1,065 



The total output of money per year, there- 

 fore, in growing ten thousand plants is estimated 

 at one thousand and sixty-five dollars. This 

 is an expenditure of practically ten cents per 

 plant, so that the actual cost of maintaining 

 and growing each plant, basing the estimate 

 on ten thousand plants, is practically ten cents. 

 We have given what in our judgment is a fair 

 average, but of course these figures can be re- 

 duced by rigid attention to details and a thor- 

 ough knowledge of all the points necessarily 

 connected with the work. If the owner is willing 

 to take a hand and to attend largely to the firing 

 and look after the watering and ventilation, the 

 cost will be materially decreased. If, on the other 

 hand, he delegates this work to others he must 

 necessarily pay for it, and in consequence the cost 

 of production will be increased. 



Turning our attention now to the other phase 

 of the question, namely, the profits, we are con- 

 fronted at the outset with the same difficulties as 

 mentioned in the first instance that is, the profits 

 will depend in large measure on the market, on 

 the ability of the man to properly handle his crop, 

 and above all on the quality of the product. 



