36 BULLETIN" 716, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FEED. 



The anniuil expense for feed bought on all these farms was $38 

 per farm, or nearly 10 per cent of the total farm expenses. For all 

 farms about one-twelfth of the feed expense was for roughage, 

 mainly hay, and eleven-twelfths for concentrates — corn, middlings, 

 bran, oil meal, cottonseed meal, tankage, poultry feeds, and in a few 

 instances oats and wheat. 



FERTILIZER AND SEED. 



Expenses for fertilizer and seeds were $65 per farm, or about one- 

 sixth of the total farm expense. Of this, $42 was for fertilizer and 

 $23 for seed. 



Most of the fertilizer used in Palmer Township was 14 per cent 

 or 16 per cent acid phosphate. On a few farms steamed bone was 

 the source of their phosphoric-acid supply, and occasionally farmers 

 used both of these fertilizers. Some farmers used ready-mixed goods, 

 with analysis of something like 2-8-2. Some farmers have practiced 

 mixing fertilizers to some extent, generally using nitrate of soda, acid 

 phosphate, and muriate of potash. Most farmers seemed to think 

 that acid phosphate was the preferable form in which to get the 

 supply of phosphoric acid. The expense for fertilizer included that 

 for lime, which amounted to only a few dollars per farm. 



Most of the seed expense was for clover and grass seeds. As shown 

 on page 23, very few of these farms produced all the clover seed used 

 on them, and the production of timothy seed received even less atten- 

 tion than that of clover. In reality, practically all farmers bought 

 all the timothy seed they used. In addition to the purchase of clover 

 and timothy seed, several farmers bought bluegrass or redtop. Of 

 course, a farmer occasionally bought seed com, wheat, oats, or rye, 

 but the expense for such seeds was of little importance when com- 

 pared with that for clover and grass seeds. The annual seed expense 

 for all these farms was 50 cents per crop acre. 



INSURANCE AND TAXES. 



The insurance carried on buildings and contents and live stock cost 

 $5 per farm and varied from $3 to $6 for different years. Prac- 

 tically all the insurance was carried in mutual companies. 



Taxes amounted to $48 per farm, increasing from $45 in 1912 to 

 $51 in 1916. The combined expense for insurance and taxes was $53 

 per farm, or one-eighth of all farm expenses. 



MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES. 



All farm expenses not already discussed have been combined under 

 " miscellaneous expenses." In this group were included all such 



