12 
BULLETIN 32, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tilizer containing 4^ per cent of nitrogen, 9 per cent of phosphoric 
acid, and 10 per cent of potash was made. During the summer the 
potatoes received good cultivation and in the fall gave a yield of 
800 bushels of merchantable potatoes from 6 acres. 
After potato digging, the land was fall-plowed and the next 
spring it was planted to barley. Previous to sowing the barley 7 
tons of plaster lime were applied with a manure spreader to the 6 
acres. The weather was very dry and the barley, a small-growing 
2-rowed variety, did not grow very well. At the time of sowing the 
barley an application of grass seed, consisting of a mixture of 12 
quarts of red clover and 4 quarts of timothy per acre, was made. 
The grass came up nicely and made a fine stand. On account of dry 
weather the clover did not seem to be doing very well, so Mr. English 
mowed the barley before it was ripe and secured two small loads of 
barley hay. In this way the stand of clover was saved and it grew 
luxuriantly during the summer and fall. 
The next spring the clover was allowed to grow until early in 
July, when the cattle were turned in to pasture it. The crop was 
especially good and Mr. English was severely criticized by his 
neighbors for his practice. 
That fall, 1909, the field was again plowed, the organic matter and 
the nitrogen of the clover thus being added to the soil, and potatoes 
were planted the next season. Good cultivation and good weather 
conditions were factors favoring a good yield. This time 200 
bushels per acre of marketable potatoes were secured. About 600 
pounds of the potato fertilizer mentioned were used on this crop. 
The cost and income of the second crop of potatoes were estimated 
by the owner and the writers to be as shown in Table II. 
Table II. — Cost of and income from the second crop of potatoes on 6 acres of 
hill land of the English farm. 
Item. 
Cost. 
6 acres. 
Average 
per acre. 
Income. 
6 acres. 
Average 
per acre. 
Value of land after improvement, 1 6 acres, $40 per acre, $240, 
interest at 5 per cent 
Plowing 
Preparation (harrowing 4 times) 
Planting 
Seed, 10 bushels per acre, at 60 cents per bushel 
Fertilizer, 600 pounds per acre, 4V-9-10 
Cultivation, 5 times 
Spraying for bugs only . .' 
Digging and picking up 
Marketing 
$12. 00 
16.00 
10.00 
8.00 
36. 00 
60.00 
30.80 
2.80 
40.00 
36.00 
$2.00 
2.67 
1.66 
1.34 
6.00 
10. 00 
5.13 
.46 
6.67 
6.00 
Total and average cost 2 
Receipts, 1,200 bushels of potatoes, at 60 cents per bushel. 
Income (taxes and use of machinery not included) 
251.60 
41.93 
$720. 00 
468. 40 
$120.00 
78.07 
1 This land in its unimproved condition was valued at $20 per acre. Adding to this value the cost of im- 
provements we find its present value to be $40 per acre. 
^Dividing $251.60 (the total cost of production) by 1,200 (the number of bushels), the cost of production 
is found to be $0,209 per bushel. 
