. 
COST OF HARVESTING WHEAT, _ nee PAL 
TABLE XII.—Average labor and overhead expenses per day, per acre, and per 
bushel.* 
Average labor and overhead expenses. 
Width of combine. Per day. 
Rae | Pe racre. | Per bushel. 
} Over- | | rabes and | 
Labor. | head. | overhead. 
Feet. 
TES ESS SALA Tore ae ll i 2 NI ee a na eS | $13.60 $9.10 $22. 70 $1.83 $0. 061 
ee ro SEO Te ai ee a 16. 00 9.30 25.30 1.86 . 062 
TOA os ol aI Ia Ea ha a 34. 40 8.95 43.35 2.18 07 
ARS ONES Sie BORD CONES EAS ee ee Re 38. 80 9.73 48.53 2.36 -079 
WBS SS Sad SI RS Re SU Ts Or a le ar de a 43. 60 6.58 50.18 1.86 062 
TS RD ia aa ACN ER eB Ce Na Oa NBG 46. 00 8.35 54. 35 1.75 . 058 
YAU) e eae a eer SALT ay 5 Rec tar ip pe Be “Sle crete! 46. 00 7.93 53.93 1.59 .053 
PEN oS a AE os Fis EAA IER ie eed a eo 55. 20 85921 64.12 1.53 051 
| 
* Based on data in Tables IX, X, and XI. 
Table X shows the annual overhead expenses based on the average 
first cost as shown in the ninth column, and annual repairs based on 
3 per cent of the first. cost for the seven- and nine-foot sizes and 4 
per cent for the larger sizes. In this connection it may be pertinent 
to state that the seven- and nine-foot outfits are, for the most part, 
individually owned and are used only on the farm of the owner, 
while the larger rigs are in many cases used more or less for custom 
work and Meio cover a considerably greater acreage each year. 
The repairs on the small machines are consequently somewhat less 
annually, but for the acreage covered and bushels thrashed are 
slightly higher. 
From the last column in Table XII it will be seen that the total 
cost of cutting and thrashing a bushel of grain with a combine varies 
from about 5.1 cents for he large outfits to a fraction under 8 cents 
for the fourteen-foot size. The expense for labor for the small out- 
fits is lower in proportion to the amount of work done per day than 
for the larger ones, but the overhead charges are slightly greater 
for the reason that the small outfits are not used as many days an- 
nually because of the fact, as previously mentioned, that they are 
largely owned by individual farmers and do very little custom work. 
Six cents per bushel is probably a fair general average cost for cut- 
ting and thrashing wheat with a combine where the yield is in the 
neighborhood of 30 bushels. At this rate the cost of harvesting and 
thrashing wheat is between one-third and one-fourth of the cost in 
sections where the wheat is cut and thrashed at two separate opera- 
tions with a consequent increase in man- and horse-labor. 
