36 BULLETIN 186, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ing 3 acres a day at each cultivation, for 2 days. $3 ; hauling and dis- 
tributing fertilizer for second application. 50 cents; total cost of 
fertilizer. 1.500 pounds (10-3-5 formula), at $20 a ton (the normal 
wholesale price before the European war). $15. 
Harvesting costs about $5 per acre. Hauling to the mill, assuming 
that the average distance is three-fourths of a mile and that 1 man 
and 2 mules will haul about eight loads a day. will be about 85 per 
acre. 
Summarizing, the cost per acre, according to this farmer's esti- 
mates, is as follows : 
Rental of land $2. 50 
Seed cane in the banks 10. 00 
Breaking the land, harrowing, and marking and opening the 
furrows 3. 00 
Preparing the cane, hauling, and planting 5. 38 
Hoeing by hand 1.00 
Cultivation 3.00 
Second distribution of fertilizer . 50 
Total fertilizer, 1,500 pounds 15. 00 
Harvesting 5. 00 
Hauling to mill 5. 00 
Additional time of overseers _ 3. 00 
Total cost of 1 acre of cane delivered at the mill 53. 38 
The allowance made for mule hire, 75 cents a day. is the usual rate. 
With good management, however, employing the mule profitably 200 
days a year, the expenses for mule hire may be somewhat reduced, as 
is shown by the following computation made by the same farmer: 
Original cost of mule old enough to work. $250; average length of 
service of a mule, 10 years, with $75 per year for his keeping. $750 ; 
total cost for 10 years' service. $1,000. Assuming that the mule is 
employed profitably 200 days per year, the cost per day is 50 cents. 
However, as the time that the mule is actually employed profitably 
rarely averages 200 days per year, and to cover also the rental and 
deterioration of implements, the allowance of 75 cents a day is 
reasonable. 
ANOTHER DETAILED ESTIMATE, BY A GEOEGIA FARM MANAGER, 
Another detailed estimate of the cost of cane production was ob- 
tained from the manager of a large estate in the same locality. He 
allowed the same wages for common laborers and for mules as was 
allowed in the preceding estimate, viz. 75 cents a day for men and 
mules and 50 cents a day for boys and women. He employed less 
labor, but for fertilizer he allowed more, making the total practically 
the same. 
