FARM PRACTICE IN PRODUCTION OF HAY. 5 
both areas, averaging in 1915 about $2.15 per acre and $1.41 per 
ton for the first crop of hay. (See Table V.) 
The average life of the meadow, including years used for pasture, 
is 0.68 year longer for the Pennsylvania farms than for the New 
York farms. The cost of seed per ton per year of meadow life is 7 
cents less for the Pennsylvania group than for the New York group. 
The yield per acre has an important bearing on the seed cost per 
ton of hay. In the New York area, for example, where the lowest 
yield found on an individual farm was 1 ton per acre, and the highest 
3 tons per acre, the seed cost per ton of hay is $0.62 for the 1-ton- 
per-acre farm, while the seed cost for the 3-ton-per-acre farm is 
only $0.20. 
Table V. — Cost of seed and amount sown in 1915. 
Item. 
37 farms in 
Washing- 
ton County, 
Pa. 
Amount of timothy sown, per acre: 
Pounds 
Quarts 
Cost of timothy seed, per acre, at $3.40 per bushel 
Amount of clover sown, per acre: 
Pounds - 
Quarts 
Cost of seed, per acre, at $9.25 per bushel 
Cost of timothy and clover seed, per acre 
Cost of seed per year during life of meadow: 
Per acre 
Per ton 
09 
4.85 
$1,491 
$2. 194 
$0,535 
.343 
MOWING. 
In the New York area the 5-foot mower is used almost exclusively. 
Only a few 6-foot mowers and no 7-foot mowers are used. In the 
Pennsylvania area the 6-foot mower predominates, though a few 
7-foot machines are used. The hay cut per hour, however, is about 
the same for each State, averaging 1 ton. The acreage grown per 
farm in the New York group is about two-thirds more than the 
average per farm in the Pennsylvania group. In Pennsylvania, 
while a larger mower is used, the fields are smaller, which necessitates 
more waste time in mowing. Another factor that would tend to 
decrease the amount mowed per hour in Pennsylvania is that the 
surface is more broken. The hills are steeper in general than in New 
York, where the topography is more gently sloping. The cost per 
ton for labor for mowing is about 28 cents in each case. (See 
Table VI.) 
