COMPARATIVE COST OF PRODUCING SILAGE. 213 



The above table shows the cost of preparing the seed bed, seed- 

 ing, harvesting, and interest and depreciation on machinery, and 

 storage to be as follows: For one acre of kale, $45.10; for one 

 acre of roots, $44.05; and for one acre of corn, $28.30. The cost 

 per ton of kale is least, and that of the corn silage is greatest, 

 but the cost per hundred pounds of digestible nutrients in the kale 

 is 51 per cent, more, and in the roots, 47 per cent, more, than in the 

 corn silage. 



Investigations conducted by the Dairy Division of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture during the past few years with 

 eighty-seven silos in various parts of the United States indicate 

 the cost of filling to be an average of 87 cents per ton. The cost 

 of growing the silage crop was $1.58 per ton on the average, which, 

 added to the filling cost, makes the average total cost of silage 

 $2.45 per ton. However, no definite statement can be made as to 

 the exact cost of silage, as so much depends upon the yield per 

 acre, cost of production, and other conditions that vary so greatly 

 in different sections of the country. For the individual farms 

 under consideration the cost of silage varied from $1.10 to $5.42 

 per ton. The investigators state that $1.50 tp $3.50 per ton repre- 

 sents the limits between which most of the silage is produced. 



Table XV. gives an outline for arriving at the cost of producing 

 silage from start to finish. The table was prepared by the Texas 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. Many farmers in figuring the 

 cost of producing crops fail to consider the value of their ow.n 

 labor, the rent of the land, the depreciation of fences surrounding 

 the crop, etc. For example, the depreciation of a fence estimated' 

 to last ten years should be figured at 10 per cent, of its value. 



Cost of Filling Silos. — The man labor cost of putting the ma- 

 terial in the silo will vary from 25c to 50c per ton, depending on 

 the yield per acre and the distance the material must be hauled. 

 The charge nlade by men who fill silos varies greatly in different 

 states or localities. In Southern Wisconsin a charge of from $20.00 

 to $25.00 per day is made for equipment, an engine, cutter and 

 two men, which will fill from eighty to one hundred tons silage a 

 day. An Idaho report shows $1.00 per hour charged for one man 

 and engine, and 70c an hour for one man and cutter. In Ohio 

 the charge varies, being around $2.00 to $2.50 an hour for cutter 

 and engine, and an average of from 25c to 30c a ton when hired 

 by the ton. The same might apply to South Carolina. Pennsyl- 



