GROWING FIELD CROPS IN SUGAR-BEET DISTRICTS. 
43 
Figures on costs are used not to indicate the absolute rates per 
bushel or per ton in 1917, but to show the comparative cost of pro- 
ducing an acre of wheat and an acre of alfalfa, potatoes, beans, or 
beets. 
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Fig. 39. —A cantaloupe field, showing a roadway for hauling the melons. 
Where the quantities of materials, labor, etc., are determined, the 
cost of producing a given crop for any year can be computed by 
applying the prevailing prices and wages for that period. 
Costs are grouped under three headings: Labor, materials, and 
other costs. ' ' Labor ' ' includes the work performed by men and horses, 
p 
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Fig. 40.— A cantaloupe packing shed. 
whether such employment is paid for by the hour or at a contract 
rate. " Materials" embraces such items as manure, seed, fertilizer, 
and water. The item" "Other costs" covers the remainder of the 
cost items, chief of which is the use of the land. Many charges under 
this group are against the farm as a whole, and the proportion of the 
