HOW CROPS ARE MEASURED 57 



bushels; and Pennsylvania, 36.8 bushels to the acre. The 

 surprising fact shown by a study of yields is that in the 

 Northern states, where small varieties are grown, the yield 

 is considerably more per acre than in the Southern states, 

 where the largest varieties thrive. The South, however, 

 owing to the longer season and more abundant rainfall, has 

 greater possibilities in corn production than can be found 

 in the North, and yields there of over 200 bushels per acre 

 have been obtained on specially prepared and fertilized land. 

 The possibilities for increased yields are great in any part 

 of the United States, and even in the northernmost states 

 yields of 100 bushels and over per acre are sometimes pro- 

 duced. 



62. Units of Measure for Farm Crops. Over a very 

 large part of the United States the unit of measure for the 

 cereal crops is the bushel of 2150.42 cubic inches capacity, 

 but since these crops vary in weight per bushel and since 

 their values are more accurately measured by weight than 

 by bulk, a more accurate comparison of production and value 

 may be made by use of the unit of measure now common in 

 the Pacific states, the pound or hundred pounds. It would 

 be a desirable change to discard the bushel as a unit of 

 measure and substitute the actual weight of the crop. 



To show the value of this change, we need but to use a 

 few illustrations of its convenience. As most of our cereals 

 are used at times for feed, the question often arises, which 

 at certain prices is it more economical to feed and which to 

 sell? If oats are selling at 40 cents per bushel of 32 pounds, 

 and corn at 49 cents per bushel of 56 pounds, it is a somewhat 

 complicated problem to determine just what is the relative 

 price of the two crops. If the same problem were to arise 

 and the relative prices were the same, with 100 pounds as 

 the unit of measure instead of the bushel, it would be stated 



