COST OF HARVESTING WHEAT. 



21 



Table XII. — Average labor and overhead expenses per day, per acre, and per 



bushel} 





Average labor and overhead expenses. 



Width of combine. 



Per day. 









Labor. 



Over- 

 head. 



Labor and 

 overhead. 



Per acre. 



Per bushel. 



Feet. 



7 



S13. 60 

 16.00 

 34.40 

 38.80 

 43.60 

 46.00 

 46.00 

 55.20 



S9.10 

 9.30 

 8.95 

 9.73 

 6.58 

 8.35 

 7.93 

 8.92 



822. 70 

 25.30 

 43.35 

 48.53 

 50.18 

 54.35 

 53.93 

 64.12 



SI. 83 

 1.86 

 2.18 

 2.36 

 1.86 

 1.75 

 1.59 

 1.53 



$0,061 



9 



.062 



12 



.073 



14 



.079 



16 



.062 



18 



20 



24 



.058 

 .053 

 .051 



' Based on data in Tables IX, X, and XL 



Table X shows the annual overhead expenses based on the average 

 first cost as shown in the ninth column, and annual repairs based on 

 3 per cent of the first cost for the seven- and nine-foot sizes and 4 

 per cent for the larger sizes. In this connection it may be pertinent 

 to state that the seven- and nine-foot outfits are, for the most part, 

 individually owned and are used only on the farm of the owner, 

 while the larger rigs are in many cases used more or less for custom 

 work and therefore cover a considerably greater acreage each year. 

 The repairs on the small machines are consequently somewhat less 

 annually, but for the acreage covered and bushels thrashed are 

 slightly higher. 



From the last column in Table XII it will be seen that the total 

 cost of cutting and thrashing a bushel of grain with a combine varies 

 from about 5.1 cents for the large outfits to a fraction under 8 cents 

 for the fourteen-foot size. The expense for labor for the small out- 

 fits is lower in proportion to the amount of work done per day than 

 for the larger ones, but the overhead charges are slightly greater 

 for the reason that the small outfits are not used as many days an- 

 nually because of the fact, as previously mentioned, that they are 

 largely owned by individual farmers and do very little custom work. 

 Six cents per bushel is probably a fair general average cost for cut- 

 ting and thrashing wheat with a combine where the yield is in the 

 neighborhood of 30 bushels. At this rate the cost of harvesting and 

 thrashing wheat is between one-third and one-fourth of the cost in 

 sections where the wheat is cut and thrashed at two separate opera- 

 tions with a consequent increase in man- and horse-labor. 



