Profits 113 



PROFITS 



To foretell profits in farming operations is a difficult 

 undertaking. The facts involved are too variable. Few 

 growers keep records, or know what their crops cost. 

 Of those who do, not many put the results in print. Sug- 

 gestions must, therefore, be chiefly in the nature of es- 

 timates. While intended to be fairly reliable for average 

 conditions, they may be far afield for any given farm or 

 crop. The following figures may be taken as a rough 

 estimate of the cost of production per acre under ordinary 

 farm conditions. 



FIRST YEAR 



Rent of Land $5.00 



Plowing and fitting the field 5 . 00 



Plants 15.00 



Planting 10.00 



Fertilizer l 20.00 



Tillage and care 10.00 



$65.00 



1 Under some conditions this may be omitted altogether the 

 first season. 



It is customary to consider that part of this cost is 

 offset by the return from crops planted between the rows 

 the year the plants are set. Whether this should be done, 

 depends chiefly on the point of view. Something can be 

 secured from the land by the use of inter-crops, and it is 

 generally wise to use them. Yet it should be remembered 

 that the crop would have been larger and would have been 



