COST OF GROWING CORN 



299 



taxation, labor and labor maintenance, fertilizing ma- 

 terial, seed, team maintenance and depreciation of ma- 

 chinery and horses. Land, horses and machinery are 

 treated as permanent capital and an allowance of inter- 

 est on this permanent investment is not considered as 

 part of the cost of production, but the net profit on 

 the crop after all the circulating capital which has been 

 used up has been replaced is taken as the profit of pro- 

 duction and therefore is the interest returned on the 

 permanent investment. 



Fig 86— Mediterranean Flour Moth 



Efihestia kuehniella : a, moth; 6, same from side, resting; c, larva; d, pupa- 

 enlarged; e, abdominal pint of larva — more enlarged (after Chittenden) 



Labor and Wages — The great bulk of the corn 

 crop is produced by the labor of the owner of the crop. 

 Some hiring is done in stress of work, but this usually 

 supplements the labor of the owner. In figuring labor 

 cost the rate of wages paid where hiring is done by 

 the day is used, the assumption being that the owner 

 is entitled to charge his labor at the highest local mar- 

 ket price. By common custom in every community, 

 there is a wage rate for labor with board furnished 

 and another where the laborer boards himself. The 

 difference between the two rates represents the value 

 or cost of maintenance as determined by experience 

 and custom. In this investigation cost of wages and 



