68 BULLETIN 1034, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In 1918—Continued. 
Of the 67 farms with over 250 acres—Continued. 
15 had yields over 300 pounds of lint. 
Of the 25 farms having yields of 225 pounds or less of lint— 
4 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 
8 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 
13 had costs over 30 cents per pound of lint. 
Of the 27 farms having yields of 226 to 300 pounds of lint— 
9 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 
13 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 
5 had costs over 30 cents per pound of lint. 
Of the 15 farms having yields over 300 pounds of lint— 
6 had costs of 20 cents or less per pound of lint. 
8 had costs from 21 to 30 cents per pound of lint. 
1 had a cost over 30 cents per pound of lint. 
DISTRIBUTION OF COSTS. 
The detailed items making up the cost of producing a product may 
be grouped in several different ways, depending upon the way in 
which they are considered. 
The cost of a farm product may be thought of as made up of the 
several operations required for producing the product. Thus, the 
production of cotton requires plowing, harrowing, planting, cultivat- 
ing, hoeing, chopping, picking, ginning, etc. The cost may also be 
thought of as made up of the materials, or elements, necessary for pro- 
duction. Thus, the production of cotton requires labor, seed, ferti- 
lizer, use of machinery, use of capital, etc. Again, the cost of produc- 
ing a farm product may be thought of from the standpoint of the items 
of direct cash outlay as compared with other cost items which are not 
cash. In enterprise cost-of-production studies the items of cost are 
usually grouped in each of the ways cited, but in the farm-business- 
analysis study this is impracticable because of lack of detail. How- 
ever, in this study it is practicable to show the distribution of costs 
under six heads, viz, labor, fertilizer, use of machinery, taxes and in- 
surance, interest on capital, and other costs, subdivided into cash and 
noncash items. (See Table 38.) These groupings are shown graphi- 
cally in figure 8 for the farms operated by white owners and colored 
renters. 
The item “labor” includes all of the labor on the farm whether 
performed by hired help, by the farmer himself, or by members of 
his family. The item “machinery” includes repairs, depreciation, 
ginning, and any other machine work hired. The item “interest 
on capital” represents the interest charge for the capital involved 
in the business. The item “ other costs” includes seed bought, feed 
bought, horseshoeing, depreciation on mules, etc. “Cash” items 
include debts contracted. ‘“ Non-cash” items refer to those not paid 
in cash or for which no debt was contracted during the year, such as 
the farmer’s own labor, the unpaid family labor, and the interest 
on the capital that is owned by the operator. 
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