1907.] Cost of Producing Farm Products. 



hay are compared with those obtained from the produce of the 

 same area of field-cured maize, the question being which system 

 gives the greatest return per acre. The same proportionate 

 quantity of grain was given in addition throughout. Cows 

 whose milk contained a large proportion of butter-fat were 

 employed, and it was found that the clover and timothy from 

 ten acres, at 2 tons per acre, maintained 10 cows for six months, 

 while the fodder maize, at 3 tons per acre, kept 11 cows for the 

 same time, but owing to the higher cost of producing the maize 

 the net profit from the clover was £\j 7s., while that from the 

 maize was only 12s. lod. If, however, a yield of 3^ tons of 

 maize were obtained, 13 cows could be kept and the profit raised 

 to OS. 5d., while at 4 tons per acre feeding 15 cows a 



return of ^^22 7s. lod. is shown. This return would, however^ be 

 exceeded by the results from a yield of 2\ tons of clover and 

 timothy. 



The cost of producing the crop of clover and timothy is put 

 •at £\\ IDS. 5d. and that of the maize at ^'25 8s. 5d., and as the 

 cost does not appreciably vary with the size of the crop it is not 

 until a yield of 4 tons of maize is obtained that the larger yield 

 is sufficient to compensate for the increased cost of production. 



A very important factor in these calculations is the produc- 

 tive capacity of the cows. The cost of labour and of rough 

 fodder is approximately the same for a poor cow as for a good 

 cow, ch-arges for interest and for concentrated foods may be 

 less, but it is impossible for any feeder to reduce the total 

 expense for a poor cow in proportion to the decrease in her 

 produce as compared with the produce of a good animal. This 

 is brought out in the table on the next page where the results 

 are compared. 



It will be seen from this that whilst the proportionately more 

 expensive fodder (maize) enabled a greater profit to be obtained 

 when given to high-class cows, its use resulted in a small loss 

 when given to poor cows. 



This table shows the infliuence of the cost of producing forage 

 upon the net profits from cattle-feeding, and taken in conjunc- 

 tion with similar statistics in the Bulletin mentioned above 

 suggests that whenever any factors, such as low prices, low 

 productivity of cattle or long distance from markets with low 



