40 BULLETIN 1000, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table 27. — Rye: Percentage distribution of costs per acre. 





Minnesota. 



Ohio. 



Item. 



Distri- 

 bution 

 of oper- 

 ating 

 ex- 

 pense. 



Distri- 

 bution 

 of total 

 costs. 



Distri- 

 bution 

 of oper- 

 ating 



ex- 

 pense. 



Distri- 

 bution 

 of total 

 costs. 



Man labor 



Per cent. 

 21.7 

 42.6 



Per cent. 

 16.0 

 29.6 



Per cent. 

 29.3 

 17.6 



Per cent. 

 21 6 



Horse labor 



13 







Materials: 



Seed 



9.8 

 2.1 



7.0 

 1.5 



17.4 



1.4 



.3 



15.5 



12. S 



Twine 



1 



Fuel 



.2 









11.5 











Total materials 



11.9 



8.5 



34.6 



25.5 







Other costs: 



Overhead 



5.0 

 9.8 

 9.0 



3.6 



7.4 

 6.5 



1.2 

 11.5 



5.8 



.9 





8.5 



Thrashing 



4.3 







Total other costs 



23.8 



17.5 



18.5 



13.7 











28.4 





26.2 













$7(1 



$73 













HAY. 



Most of the tame grasses used for hay are either biennials or 

 perennials. This is a very important fact to consider when com- 

 paring crop costs. In view of the fact that these crops are not sown 

 annually on the same fields, the cost of the seed is always prorated 

 over several years, thus reducing the seed charge for each. Not 

 only is the seed cost reduced, but the labor of preparing the seed 

 bed, and also, in most instances, the sowing of the seed, are charged 

 against the nurse crop, thus leaving only the value of the seed sown 

 as the cost of obtaining a stand of hay. In the tables following on 

 the cost of hay, labor refers only to harvesting operations. In all 

 of the sections studied there appeared on some records a few hours 

 for sowing and other miscellaneous work on the hay fields, but only 

 in New York, where it is common to roll the hay land in the spring, 

 is this labor of any importance. On the latter farms the time spent 

 in taking care of the hay ground in the spring amounted to six- 

 tenths of a man hour and seven-tenths of a horse hour per acre. 



Seed is always one of the costs of producing tame hay and is given 

 for all the States except Ohio, for which the records showed only 

 the money cost of seeding. (See Table 28.) Seed and labor make 

 up about three-fourths of the expenses of producing hay, and 

 machinery and overhead make up the other one-fourth. A few 

 farmers applied fertilizer to the hay land and a few reports showed 

 that salt was used in the hay mow, but neither of these items is of 



