30 BULLETIN 1198, U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
requirements of labor and materials in computing the average regional 
cost of producing winter wheat in McPherson County, Kans., for 1922. 
So long as the ratio of the total costs of these quantitative require- 
ments to the total operating expense remains fairly constant and 
constitutes a relatively large percentage of the total operating expense, 
they serve as valuable basic data for computing costs. 
TABLE 23.—Estimated cost of producing winter wheat, McPherson County, Kans., 1922. 
Amount | Estimated | Cost per 
Items. per acre. rate. acre. 
Labor: 
Prepare land and seed— 
Mam SHOUES Ss soos see oacarine Soca eee ee eee 4.5 $0. 20 $0.90 
FEVLOESE HOMES ES 2th Ee ERE ate Sakce AM  e ee ee ee 18.5 ab5 2.78 
Harvest and market— 
Manwhours a seee = eee rete aS aCe of eae 4.0 - 45 1.80 
FEFORSEOUES Sacer See i eee or etc Se 7.5 si 1.12 
Seed ebusSHelseeee: ante A ae Se a 2 Seon ee a ed 1.50 1.65 
EWING POUMNGS Sat sctoht Sa emcee eee See ae eet ee ee ane ee ee 2.0 125 25 
sBhreshinembushelss ane sesee ae sBakls ctesae se nsemesn sat seeee she | 15.0 = 1.80 
Total labor, seed, twine and threshing or 73 per cent 2 of the 
OPCLAEIN POX PENSe ss Uo Seer. seem co Sapna esse aa | rere LS oe ae eee 10.30 
notavoperatinge expense: ClO) per cenb)s- = ce -e sete eee ae nee See eee ee ee 14.10 
Wseroblan Gene = oe ae Sask ae ee ee yc aera ee pe ee $110 6% 6.60 
otalicost. a:c0 toi oe a. Oa ee So ne| See ae eer ai oer [OSs eo sees 20.7 
@re@itssa hie - . Soca ® Sais spas a een aie Re Gece anes eee eee ee leone a ic ao an aes -10 
Rotabnet cosh peace: 6 ce ul tsar ee ary eee eee pene eee ON en [Soe | 20. 60 
Total net cost per bushel (15 bushel yield) -..-...-.... Be el Neenah Det T ee 9S 1.37 
1 Binder cut grain threshed from shock, bundle haulers furnished by farmer and field pitchers by the 
t hresherman. 
2 From the 1920 cost figures. 
SUMMARY OF LABOR PRACTICES. 
Summaries of the labor practices, showing the average time and 
the percentage of the total acreage covered by each field operation are 
given in Tables 24 to 27. 
With the exception of the two Missouri counties and Gage County, 
Nebr., the use of manure on wheat land was not common. In many 
instances straw and manure were applied more for the purpose of pre- 
venting soil blowing than asa plantfood. This was especially true in 
Woodward County, Okla. Since farm manure was applied only on 
selected parts of the wheat fields, it was difficult to determine the ex- 
act acreage covered, hence the man and horse requirements for its 
application have been omitted from these tables. 
Tillage practices in the preparation of a suitable seed bed were not 
uniform. As an example of variation in practice, a farmer might 
plow a part of his acreage, list a part, and disk drill the remainder on 
stubble land without further preparation. Of the total wheat acre- 
age studied, 12 per cent was listed and 50 per cent was plowed. (See 
Fig. 10.) Thirty-six per cent of all land plowed was with tractor 
power. In Pike County, Mo., 75 per cent of the total acreage was 
plowed. The remaining 25 per cent was mainly corn land most of 
which was disk-harrowed instead of plowed. In Cheyenne County, 
Nebr., 55 per cent or.the total acreage was plowed, the remaining 
acreage being principally wheat stubble land which was disk-har- 
rowed instead of plowed. The lister was substituted for the plow on 
