40 BULLETIN 1000, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table 27. — Rye: Percentage distribution of costs per acre. 
Minnesota. 
Ohio. 
Item. 
Distri- 
bution 
of oper- 
ating 
ex- 
pense. 
Distri- 
bution 
of total 
costs. 
Distri- 
bution 
of oper- 
ating 
ex- 
pense. 
Distri- 
bution 
of total 
costs. 
Man labor 
Per cent. 
21.7 
42.6 
Per cent. 
16.0 
29.6 
Per cent. 
29.3 
17.6 
Per cent. 
21 6 
Horse labor 
13.0 
Materials: 
Seed 
9. 8 1 "-0 
17.4 
1.4 
.3 
15. 5 
12. S 
Twine 
Fuel 
2.1 
1.5 
1.0 
.2 
11.5 
Total materials 
11.9 
8.5 
34.6 
25.5 
Other costs: 
Overhead 
5.0 
9.8 
9.0 
3.6 
7.4 
6.5 
1.2 
11.5 
5.8 
.9 
8.5 
Thrashing 
4.3 
Total other costs 
23.8 
17.5 
18.5 
13.7 
28.4 
26.2 
Value of land per acre 
S70 
$~3 
HAY. 
Most of the tame grasses used for hay are either biennials or 
perennials. This is a very important fact to consider when com- 
paring crop costs. In view of the fact that these crops are not sown 
annually on the same fields, the cost of the seed is always prorated 
over several years, thus reducing the seed charge for each. Not 
only is the seed cost reduced, but the labor of preparing the seed 
bed, and also, in most instances, the sowing of the seed, are charged 
against the nurse crop, thus leaving only the value of the seed sown 
as the cost of obtaining a stand of hay. In the tables following on 
the cost of hay, labor refers only to harvesting operations. In all 
of the sections studied there appeared on some records a few hours 
for sowing and other miscellaneous work on the hay fields, but only 
in New York, where it is common to roll the hay land in the spring, 
is this labor of any importance. On the latter farms the time spent 
in taking care of the hay ground in the spring amounted to six- 
tenths of a man hour and seven-tenths of a horse hour per acre. 
Seed is always one of the costs of producing tame hay and is given 
for all the States except Ohio, for which the records showed only 
the money cost of seeding. (See Table 28.) Seed and labor make 
up about three-fourths of the expenses of producing hay, and 
machinery and overhead make up the other one-fourth. A few 
farmers applied fertilizer to the hay land and a few reports showed 
that salt was used in the hay mow, but neither of these items is of 
