UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 896 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management and 
Farm Economics 
H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. Vv November 19, 1920 
THE COST OF PRODUCING COTTON. 
(842 RECORDS—1918. ) 
yt, A. MoornouseE, Associate Farm Economist, and M. R. Coopzr, Assistant 
Farm Economist. 
> 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page 
EMER OUUCtLON S seroma nels esses cere nioeie o oi 1 | Normaltime required for v arious operations. iz 
Waeldiokcottontinithesouth=ss-eee- ss]. eee. 4s armerecelptSse asset ae eee 41 
Method of study and description of areas.... 45 | DB aSicGicost factors tes eaeee = eee 42 
JNTE INES CHIE) GOS e5coqoocuceeuccasdaeacs 9 | Variations in cost and relation to price.....- 45 
Relation of acreage and yield to net cost IAD DON GER see ae see eee eee ee eee 50 
[OG KOUNAOL@ hit iogedqaccoaadocacosass7ocose 16 
INTRODUCTION. 
This bulletin is based upon estimates from 842 farms representing 
10 districts in the Cotton Belt, viz: 3 districts in Alabama, 3 in Geor- 
gia, 2 in South Carolina, and 2 in Texas. (See fig. 1 and Table I.) 
The relative importance of the cotton crop in these four States is 
shown by Table IT.! 
This investigation pertains to the crop year 1918 and the cost 
figures for each farm are applicable only to the cotton crop of this 
particular year. | 
1Considerable work has been done by the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics in the 
Cotton Belt, and bulletins showing the business organization of farms in typical cotton districts have been 
published. Farm practices in the cultivation of cotton have also been studied tosome extent. See the 
following Bulletins: 
Dept. Bul. 492, ‘‘ An Economic Study of Farming in Sumter County, Georgia’’; Dept. Bul. 511, ‘‘ Farm 
Practicein the Cultivation of Cotton”; Dept. Bul. 648, ‘‘A Farm Management Survey in Brooks County, 
Georgia”; Dept. Bul. 651, ‘‘A Farm Management Study in Anderson County, South Carolina”; Dept. 
Bul. 659, ‘‘A Farm Management Study of Cotton Farmsin Ellis County, Texas’; Dept. Bul. 665, ‘‘Status_ 
of Farmingin the Lower Rio Grande Irrigated District of Texas.”’ 
Note.—Acknowledgment is due to Messrs. R. 8. Washburn, M. A.Crosby, E. 8. Haskell, and H. B. 
_ McClure, ofthe Office of Farm Management, United States Department of Agriculture; Mr. F. D. Stevens, 
ofthe Alabama College of Agriculture; and Mr. S. H. Starr, of the Georgia College of Agriculture, for 
assistance in collecting the data which are presented in this bulletin. Acknowledgment is also due Miss 
Catherine R. Hawley, of the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics, for careful work in 
supervising the tabulations which are used as a basis for this discussion. Thanks are extended tothe 
farmers ofthe respective districts who cooperated so willingly in furnishing information with reference 
to the cost of producing cotton. 
