14 



BULLETIN 560, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The amount credited was determined by means of the yearly inven- 

 tories and a record of the number of tons hauled to the fields. 



On the Illinois farms the average manure credit was $5.24 ; in Ohio, 

 $8.20; and in New York, $13.36 per horse. On individual farms 

 there was a wide variation in the amount of horse manure actually 

 saved. This variation is accounted for to a large extent by the 

 individual practices of manure management, and the extent to 

 which roughage was utilized for feed and bedding purposes. 



A study of the average manure credits and their relation to the 

 average amounts of feed used per horse (pp. 3 and 5) shows that the 

 average manure credit per horse is greatest in the States where the 

 horses were fed the greatest quantities of grain and roughage and 

 pastured the least number of days. 



VARIATIONS IN NET COSTS. 



In Tables 9, 10, and 11, the data for each State are divided into two 

 groups with reference to net costs. The first group includes those 

 years for which the net cost per horse was greater than the average 

 for the State. The second group includes those years for which the 

 net cost per horse was less than the average for the State. 



Table 9. — Illinois farms — Itemized average costs and credits for records showing a net 

 cost per horse above the average for the State, and for those showing a net cost per horse 

 below the average 1 (10 farms, 154 horses). 



Range of cost. 



Feed 



(cost). 



Labor 

 (cost). 



Depre- 

 ciation 

 (cost). 



Appre- 

 ciation 

 (credit). 



Colt 



loss 



(cost). 



Colt 

 profit 

 (credit.) 



All 

 other 

 (costs). 



Manure 

 (credit). 





$78. 05 



816. 20 

 11.96 



$4.48 

 2.52 





83.92 



83.38 



$21. 02 



18.43 



85.45 





60.00 



5-06 



Difference 







18.05 



4.24 



1.96 





3.92 



3.38 



2.59 



.39 



1 Average net cost for the State, 8100.65. 



One-half of the 18 yearly farm records showed a net cost greater 

 than the average for all records. The average net cost for this 

 group was $118.22 per horse, while the average net cost for the 

 nine yearly records with a cost less than the State average was 

 $84.47, making a difference of $33.75. Of this difference, $18.05 

 was for feed and $4.24 was for labor. From this it will be seen that 

 the principal difference in cost in this State was for feed, though 

 it naturally follows that a somewhat greater amount of labor will 

 be required for the horses in handling the larger quantities of feed 

 utilized by the better-fed group. The item of depreciation is $1.96 

 per horse greater than for the low-cost group. The total death loss 

 of $350 for all farms was in this group, and it is interesting to note 

 that, had no deaths occurred, the depreciation would have been 

 greater in the low-cost group. In the high-cost group, thare was a 



