2 BULLETIN 1043, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



His growing grain or fruit may be injured by plant diseases, de- 

 voured by insect or animal pests, or severely damaged by wind- 

 storms, frost, or hail. 



MEANING OF "LOSS" OR "DAMAGE" IN CONNECTION WITH 



GROWING CROPS. 



Before attempting to make any statement concerning the impor- 

 tance or extent of loss or damage to farmers resulting from adverse 

 natural conditions or agencies, the meaning of the words "loss" 

 or " damage " when used in connection with crops must be deter- 

 mined. One or two simple illustrations will assist in giving these 

 terms a more definite meaning than the one often attached to them. 



Assume, for example, that with ideal climatic conditions and in 

 the absence of all loss-producing agencies. A, B, and C, farmers in 

 different sections of the country, can produce, respectively, 40 bushels 

 of wheat, 100 bushels of corn, and 800 pounds of lint cotton an acre. 

 Each man has at some time produced the exceptionally large yields 

 indicated. Because the conditions are not ideal during a given 

 season, A actually harvests only 20 bushels of wheat an acre, B 

 only 55 bushels of corn, and C only 350 pounds of cotton. Taking 

 into consideration the loss due to damage to crops from all causes 

 or combinations of causes, these three farmers, in a certain sense at 

 least, may claim losses of 20 bushels of wheat, 45 bushels of corn, 

 and 450 pounds of cotton an acre, respectively. They failed by 

 the amounts indicated to obtain the maximum crops that would 

 have resulted from the expenditure of their labor and capital had 

 not weather conditions and other natural agencies been to some extent 

 adverse. 



As the natural hazards to crops are exceptionally high in certain 

 types of farming, such as wheat production in the semiarid West, 

 the next illustration may very properly be based on this type of 

 farming. Let it be assumed that farmers X, Y, and Z are engaged 

 during a given year in producing wheat by dry-farming methods 

 in three semiarid regions of the West, and that the average yield 

 of wheat in each of these regions for the last 20 years has been 8 

 bushels an acre. Let it be assumed also that this average yield has, 

 at the price received, given returns covering all proper charges 

 against the production of an acre of wheat under the methods of 

 tillage followed by these men. On each of the farms in question 35- 

 bushel jdelds have been harvested, Y having reaped a 35-bushel crop 

 a year ago. 



In the territory where X operates, average conditions prevail 

 throughout the year in question. X grows and actually reaps an 8- 

 bushel crop. In Y's territory the season proves extremely adverse, a 



