68 BULLETIN 1034, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTUKE. 



In 1918— Continued. 



Of the 67 farms with over 250 acres — Continued. 

 15 had yields over 300 pounds of lint. 



Of the 25 farms having yields of 225 pounds or less of lint — 



4 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 



8 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 

 13 had costs over 30 cents per pound of lint. 



Of the 27 farms having yields of 226 to 300 pounds of lint— 



9 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 

 13 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 



5 had costs over 30 cents per pound of lint. 



Of the 15 farms having yields over 300 pounds of lint 



6 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 

 8 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 

 1 had a cost over 30 cents per pound of lint. 



DISTRIBUTION OF COSTS. 



The detailed items making up the cost of producing a product may 

 be grouped in several different ways, depending upon the way in 

 which they are considered. 



The cost of a farm product may be thought of as made up of the 

 several operations required for producing the product. Thus, the 

 production of cotton requires plowing, harrowing, planting, cultivat- 

 ing, hoeing, chopping, picking, ginning, etc. The cost may also be 

 thought of as made up of the materials, or elements, necessary for pro- 

 duction. Thus, the production of cotton requires labor, seed, ferti- 

 lizer, use of machinery, use of capital, etc. Again, the cost of produc- 

 ing a farm product may be thought of from the standpoint of the items 

 of direct cash outlay as compared with other cost items which are not 

 cash. In enterprise cost-of-production studies the items of cost are 

 usually grouped in each of the ways cited, but in the farm-business- 

 analysis study this is impracticable because of lack of detail. How- 

 ever, in this study it is practicable to show the distribution of costs 

 under six heads, viz, labor, fertilizer, use of machinery, taxes and in- 

 surance, interest on capital, and other costs, subdivided into cash and 

 noncash items. (See Table 38.) These groupings are shown graphi- 

 cally in figure 8 for the farms operated by white owners and colored 

 renters. 



The item " labor " includes all of the labor on the farm whether 

 performed by hired help, by the farmer himself, or by members of 

 his family. The item " machinery " includes repairs, depreciation, 

 ginning, and any other machine work hired. The item " interest 

 on capital " represents the interest charge for the capital involved 

 in the business. The item " other costs " includes seed bought, feed 

 bought, horseshoeing, depreciation on mules, etc. " Cash " items 

 include debts contracted. " Non-cash " items refer to those not paid 

 in cash or for which no debt was contracted during the year, such as 

 the farmer's own labor, the unpaid family labor, and the interest 

 on the capital that is owned by the operator. 



