COST OF PRODUCTION 231 
duction in New Zealand is as low as the figure arrived at 
by this Australian experiment, but there is a very con- 
siderable discrepancy between this estimate and current 
statements of costs. Even supposing that taxes and rents 
are higher in New Zealand than in Australia, the average 
yield per acre is also higher.* It is obvious that there is 
some error in present estimates for New Zealand, which 
frequently run as high as 5s. to 6s. The writer obtained 
a number of estimated costs of production from leading 
wheat producers in the Dominion, in the autumn of 1915, 
and in only one case (where the estimate per acre was 
given), did the cost stated exceed £5. The average of 
the estimates was about £4 5s. In a few cases 4s. per 
bushel was considered a fair price. At 30 bushels per 
acre this would involve a cost of £6 per acre, and where 
the yield is 30 bushels per acre it is difficult to arrive 
at a much higher cost. In normal times the cost per 
acre is generally lower for areas in which the yield falls 
below 30 bushels per acre. 
6. The Presentation of Data from ‘‘Representative’’ 
Farms. 
The last stage of the investigation is the presentation 
of the data collected from three ‘‘representative’’ farms. 
These data are open to the serious objections mentioned 
above, in that we cannot isolate wheat production from 
other rural pursuits, and that sufficient time has not 
been available for the comprehensiveness of the estimate. 
The farms, however, may be considered as representative, 
and the costs fair average costs for an individual year. 
The plan adopted in the estimates given here has been 
to obtain from certain farmers a statement of their actual 
receipts and expenditure in the production of a crop on 
*Though conditions in Australia and New Zealand differ 
greatly, on the whole there was remarkable similarity between 
the conditions under which the above mentioned cost was 
obtained and the general conditions in New Zealand. 
