162 FIELD CROPS 



sota, Iowa, Missouri, North and South Dakota, Nebraska 

 and Kansas, the average farm price was 75.1 cents per bushel. 

 This section produces about one-half of the wheat crop of 

 the United States. In the North Atlantic states, where 

 only about 4 per cent of the wheat acreage of the United 

 States is included, the average farm price for the same period 

 was 97 cents per bushel. In the Far Western states, repre- 

 senting about 10 per cent of the wheat area and about 13 

 per cent of the total production of the United States, the 

 price was 76.9 cents per bushel. 



201. Cost of Production. The cost of producing wheat 

 naturally varies w'.th the section of the country, the rental 

 value of the land, the price of labor, and the methods 

 employed. From reports made by more than five thousand 

 correspondents of the Bureau of Statistics of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, tabulated in the May, 

 1911, Crop Reporter, the average cost of producing an acre 

 of wheat in 1909 in the United States was $11.15. Of this 

 total, the average amount expended for fertilizers was 58 

 cents; preparation of the land, $2.11; seed, $1.42; planting, 

 46 cents; harvesting, $1.33; preparing for market (including 

 thrashing), $1.48; miscellaneous, 48 cents; land rental or 

 interest on land value, $3.30. As the average yield in that 

 year was 17.2 bushels, the cost of production was 66 cents a 

 bushel. The average value of wheat was 96 cents a bushel, 

 leaving a return of 30 cents a bushel, or $5.33 an acre. While 

 these figures are merely estimates, the large number of reports 

 which are included make them of considerable value. A pres- 

 entation of the acre value, acre cost, and value less cost 

 for the different sections, as shown in Table VIII, is of 

 interest. 



