PROBLEM OF CROP PRODUCTION 361 



to produce large yields. But it is a difficult matter to 

 grow crops at a profit whether the yields be small or large. 



319. Factors Affecting Profit. — Suitable crops planted 

 in productive soil according to up-to-date methods do not 

 necessarily yield profitable returns. In order that a pro- 

 fit may be ^.ssured, not only must all the essential condi- 

 tions of growth be provided, but (1) the crop must be 

 protected from weeds, insects, plant diseases and storms, 

 and (2) either the cost of production or the selling price 

 must be controlled. 



320. The Cost of Weeds.— Weeds rob the crop of its 

 plant food and moisture and increase the cost of produc- 

 tion. It has been estimated by the Department of Agri- 

 culture that the weed crop of Saskatchewan costs her 

 farmers $25,000,000 a year, and probably this item does 

 not cost the average farmer in Saskatchewan more than 

 it does the average one in either of the other Prairie 

 Provinces. 



321. The Cost of Insects. — Insect, animal or bird pests 

 may lessen the yield or quality of the crop either before 

 or after maturity. The Dominion Department of Agri- 

 culture places the loss through destruction of crops by 

 cutworms in one district in a single season at 35,000 

 acres. And the cutworm is only one of dozens of insects 

 that take an annual toll from the farmer's crops. 



322. The Loss from Rust. — Plant diseases nourish them- 

 selves on the tissues of plants and thus lessen the yield 

 or quality or both. The loss to Western Canada from 

 rust alone in the year 1916 has been estimated to average 

 six bushels per acre. This at the October price of $1.50 

 per bushel on an area of aproximately 12,000,000 acres, 

 reaches the enormous sum of over $100,000,000. In 

 other years wheat smut, flax wilt, potato blight and other 



