370 PROFITABLE CROP PRODUCTION 



the farm profits?" Few farmers, indeed, could be induced to use 

 fertilizers and agricultural lime were no profits forthcoming. It 

 is quite evident that when crop increases are profitably obtained 

 by improving the soil through fertilization and otherwise, the farm 

 profits, or managerial income,^ should likewise be larger. Much, 

 of course, depends upon the manner in which the crops are disposed 

 of. This explains why soil fertility investigators extend their 

 investigations into farm management just so far as to enable 

 them to arrive at their conclusions by determining the "value of 

 crop increases above cost of fertilizers/^ 



Commercial fertilizers are profitable when they are judiciously 

 used. The fertilizer practices in the Eastern and Southern states, 

 as well as in the countries of the Old World, are sufiicient evidence 

 of this fact. 



The Crop-production Problem. — ^A most vital problem which 

 confronts the land owner in his farm management is to determine 

 the point at which his crop yields are the most profitable. To do 

 this he must consider such factors as the value of his land,^ the 

 cost of labor, machinery cost, cost of fertilizers and the price he 

 expects to receive for his produce. In such determinations the 

 cost of fertilizers is an important factor, because the fertilizers 

 may be largely responsible for high yields and at the same time 

 lower, or even consume the profits, if excessively or unwisely used. 



In a certain corn contest a boy won the prize because he pro- 

 duced the greatest number of bushels per acre. However, when 

 the total cost was considered, the value of the crop at market 

 price was not sufficient to cover the cost. The largest item was 

 the cost of the fertihzer treatments — ^he fertilized excessively. 



The Value of a Plot Left Untreated. — ^The actual profits 

 derived through the use of commercial fertilizers on the farm are 

 too frequently matters of guesswork. A check on increases due 

 to fertilizers may be secured by comparing fertilized plots with a 

 plot left unfertihzed. It is just as important that leading farmers 

 establish test plots on the farm to determine economic crop pro- 

 duction as it is for experiment stations to do so — ^the only difference 



^ Managerial or labor income means farm profits above total costs; total 

 costs mclucSng unpaid family labor and interest on total mvestment. Family 

 labor mfeans all work done by wife and children on the farm, not including 

 the household. 



2 Land rental is an expense considered in crop production. When the land 

 is owned by the farmer it is usual to charge five per cent on the value of the 

 land in Heu of rent. 



