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DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



that 3^ou are not doing what you have anticipated you were doing. So 

 that there is an advantage in owning your own implements. It costs us, 

 using five horses and two plows, and plowing deep — seven to nine inches — 

 one dollar per acre. Of course I get at these expenses in the way I have 

 indicated. That is all we do in the fall of the year on our land. The next 

 spring we put the same plows onto this land, as I have explained, and we 

 plow from two to four inches deep — just so we can cut the weeds, as I have 

 told you. That costs us sixt}^ cents per acre to cultivate in that waj*. Har- 

 rowing twice with these large harrows costs us fifty cents an acre, two 

 harrowing. Drilling the grain in costs us fort}^ cents. It don't cost us quite 

 that much, but I put it fort}^ cents at the outside. Now that is about all 

 of the cost in the way of working the land, except perhaps twenty-five cents 

 for sharpening the plow, or something of that kind. We use forty or fortj^- 

 five pounds of grain for seed, which ordinarily costs about fifty cents per 

 acre. Our present method of harvesting costs us one dollar per acre for 

 cutting and stacking the grain with the header and header boxes. Thresh- 

 ing costs us this year $1.85 an acre. I am basing my calculations on a 

 crop of 25 bushels to the acre. Of course in the cost of the work it doesn't 

 make much difference whether the crop is 25 or 35 bushels, but in thresh- 

 ing and delivering j^our grain to market makes a difference, so I have 

 averaged it at 25 bushels. Hauling our grain seven miles from the farm 

 to market costs us 75 cents. And all this makes a total of $6.85 per acre. 

 Our crops yielded this year — our land yielded this year an average over the 

 whole field of 25 bushels to the acre, which would be, the cost of pro- 

 ducing that, would be about 27 cents per bushel the way I figure it out. 

 And as I stated a while ago, I figured in the beginning that it cost us so 

 much to feed the horses, and general expenses. And that reminds me I 

 have got to take stock when I go home, and I have just added $600 to 

 this, calling it 35 cents per bushel our crop has cost us to produce during 

 the year 1907. Our grain sold for 71 cents. So I believe the actual result 

 is 50 per cent. That has satisfied me perfectly well, and I am not going to 

 hunt for new methods and leave the old ones out until I know something 

 about them. 



As I say, when these professors give suggestions I can understand and 

 reduce to practice I am going to do it, but I want to do it in a small way 

 first, convincing myself by actual demonstrations that these things can be 

 accomplished. When I can do that then I will change, but I am pretty 

 well satisfied with the methods we are using today, and most of them have 

 come about by listening to the professors and learning as much as we 

 can, and reducing their suggestions to practice. 



I take it this way: These professors are giving the better part of their 

 lives for the benefit of the farmers. I for one appreciate the efforts they 

 are making, but when they have presented these ideas to us then we have 

 got to find a way to reduce them to practice and make them profitable. 

 They mention one thing, I mention another and you mention another, and 

 the one that can reduce the cost to a minimum is the method we want to 

 follow. I know Dr. Widtsoe and Prof. Merrill and all these professors like 



