38 
BULLETIN 1400, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
for one who has a siding on his own farm. Mushroom production 
also requires a heavy investment in buildings and large expenditures 
for spawn, labor, and manure. Only a farmer with good financial 
resources can go into mushroom production on a large scale. 
Table 36. — Direct expenses and receipts for tlie mushroom enterprise 
Vnit 
Mushroom-dairy farms 
Other mushroom farms 
Item 
Physical 
units 
Value 
Value per 
100 square 
feet of 
beds 
Physical 
units 
Value 
Value per 
100 square 
feet of 
beds 
Direct expense items: 
M antra purchased 
Tons 
Bottles 
Hundreds. 
Tons 
168 
354 
40 
15.9 
Dollars 
738 
278 
174 
151 
51 
14 
29 
167 
10 
Dollars 
6.18 
2.33 
1.46 
1.26 
.43 
.12 
.24 
1.40 
.08 
250 
470 
56 
28.1 
Dollars 
1,046 
371 
266 
264 
142 
38 
37 
477 
10 
Dollars 
5.69 
2 02 
1 45 
Coal 
1.44 
Freight 
.77 
.21 
.20 
2.59 
.05 
Total direct expense 
1, 612 
13.50 
2, 651 
14.42 
Sales: 
Mushrooms 
Boxes 
3,690 
3,750 
2,138 
31.40 
17.90 
5,353 
5,091 
2,440 
27.70 
13.28 
Square feet 
Pounds... 
11,942 
0.93 
18, 381 
0.87 
Table 36 shows the average quantities of different materials used 
in mushroom production upon both the straight mushroom farms and 
the mushroom-dairy farms. The mushroom enterprise was smaller 
on the mushroom-dairy farms as a rule, and the values of the various 
items are therefore expressed per 100 square feet of bed, so that 
expenditures on the two types of operation can be compared. 
It is probable that the differences in expenditures per 100 square 
feet of beds for such items as manure, spawn, coal, freight, and truck- 
ing are not of much significance, as they are due more to the rather 
small number of cases included in each average than to actual differ- 
ences in the efficiency of operation. For labor, however, the difference 
is significant, the extra labor on the straight mushroom farms aver- 
aging nearly twice as much (per 100 square feet) as on the mushroom- 
dairy farms. This indicates what is probably the most significant 
economy in combining mushroom production with dairv farming — 
the possibility of utilizing regular farm labor in working on the 
mushrooms at a period when no other profitable disposition of the 
labor is available. 
The surplus per 100 square feet of beds, as shown in Table 36, 
was decidedly larger for the mushroom-dairy farms than for the other 
mushroom farms. This was owing in large part to the heavier yield 
on the mushroom-dairy farms and to the higher price obtained. The 
higher yield, though possibly owing in part to the heavier use of 
manure and spawn on the mushroom-dairy farms, was probably more 
a reflection of the fact, previously mentioned, that in general the dairy 
farmers who were also growing mushrooms were exceptionally skillful 
farmers. This table shows that their mushroom enterprises as well as 
(heir dairy operations were more efficient than the average. An 
energetic and intelligent man can combine a mushroom enterprise 
with his dairy farm and operate both of them efficiently. 
