I07 



land be worth $50.00 an acre it wonld take $3.00 an acre to pay the 

 interest on the $50.00; therefore, this is a legitimate rental and 

 would bring the cost of production to $9.00. If the land be w^orth 

 $150.00 an acre our rental would be not $3.00 but $9.00 and our 

 cost of production would be $15.00. If we secure no more yield 

 on the Si 50.00 land than we do on the $50.00 we find it would 

 become unprofitable to try and grow wheat ; for with an average 

 yield of 14 bushels at $1.00 per bushel there would be nothing but 

 loss ; so that we may say that with our present mode of farming 

 no man can attempt to try and grow a profitable average crop of 

 wheat on land worth more than $100.00 an acre. He simply must 

 cast round for souie other type of farming. Our potato-growing 

 involves a larger outlay for labor than wheat-growing. The im- 

 portant thing to remember is that rent should not constitute more 

 than a certain percentage of the total cost, so that any crop which 

 involves considerable labor can be grown on higher priced land 

 than a crop which involves little labor, and we find that potato- 

 grow ing has its limit, that is, about $300.00 per acre. In other 

 words, we cannot afford to pay more than $18.00 an acre rent for 

 land for potato-growing, and with average yields, no man could af- 

 ford to pay this. Xo 90-bushel crop of potatoes could aft'ord such a 

 sum, in fact, it could not aft'ord to pay much more than $3.00 or $4.00 

 rent. Orchard land on the other hand, with the large amount of 

 labor involved and large amount expended for packages, frecjuent- 

 ly running to $100.00 per acre or more, can pay a higher rent than 

 potato-growing, and yet, not have the rent a higher percentage of 

 the total expense. So that we are really trying to grow a crop of 

 fruit trees which will warrant the expenditure of a considerable 

 sum of money in order to secure returns as soon as possible, and, at 

 the same time, trying to devote part of the same land to a crop 

 which will not warrant anv such expenditure. This, however, is 

 but one way in which the two crops conflict. The growing of po- 

 tatoes gives no opportunity for the incorporation of a large c|uan- 

 tity of organic matter. 



C. J. Tyson. Our method is to grow an early crop of potatoes 

 this year and then seed the land to crimson clover and the clover 

 is turned in the following spring and that year a late variety of 

 potatoes is planted, the land being seeded to rye after this, which is 

 in turn plowed under and the following year the system is con- 

 tinued. In this way we incorporate organic matter and can grow 

 our orchards. 



Mr, F. I am glad ^Ir. Tyson gave this, because it shows a 

 method which has been evolved to meet this situation, and it really 

 comes back to each individual to determine whether it pays or not. 

 I merelv state the question as I see it and then w^ant you to figure 

 it out for yourselves. 



I would like to give the figures which have been issued by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture in regard to the cost of growing 

 potatoes without fertilizer in Minnesota. 



The statistics given in the table were collected from a large 

 potato and grain farm in Clav county. Northwestern Minnesota, 

 where 300 to 400 acres of potatoes are grown annually. During the 



