8 
BULLETIN 242, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
on a valuation of $20 per acre is added for taxes and interest on the 
land. 
To these items must finally be added a charge of 22 cents per acre 
for seed in the case of corn, as shown in Table III, and 17 cents per 
acre for kafir or milo seed. 
Table III. — Comparative cost per acre of producing corn 1 by different methods 
at Garden City, Kans., and Dalhart and Amarillo, Tex. 
Number of operations. 
Cost per acre. 
Inter- 
est 
and 
taxes. 
Total cost of pro- 
duction. 
Method of prepa- 
ration. 
Plow- 
ing. 
Har- 
row- 
ing. 
Disk- 
ing. 
Sub- 
soil- 
ing. 
Cost 
of 
prep- 
ara- 
tion. 
Seed. 
Plant- 
ing. 
Cul- 
tivat- 
ing. 
Har- 
vest- 
ing. 
In 
dol- 
lars. 
In 
stover, 
at $4 
per 
ton. 
In 
grain 
at 40 
cents 
per 
bush- 
el. 
1 
1.4 
1.4 
1.4 
8.3 
1 
.6 
1.1 
1.1 
3 
"6*5' 
$0.92 
2.40 
2.78 
3,47 
6.05 
$0.22 
.22 
.22 
.22 
.22 
$0.60 
$1.14 
$1.50 
1.50 
1.50 
1.50 
1.50 
$1.60 
1.60 
1.60 
1.60 
3.20 
5.98 
7.11 
7.49 
8.18 
12.36 
1.50 
1.78 
1.87 
2.05 
3.09 
15.0 
Spring plowed 
Fall plowed 
Subsoiled 
Summer tilled 
1 
1 
1 
1.4 
.25 
.25 
.25 
.25 
1.14 
1.14 
1.14 
1.14 
17.8 
18.7 
20.5 
30.9 
1 Based on three cultivations. With the reduction of 5 cents per acre in the cost of seed, the same figures 
are used for both kafir and milo. 
To determine the value of the crop is even more difficult. The 
farm value of corn in the Great Plains on December 1 for the 10 
years ending with 1914 has been 51 cents per bushel. The writers 
have used in this study a valuation for each of the three crops of 40 
cents per bushel in the shock. This allows 11 cents per bushel to com- 
plete the harvesting. In the territory under consideration, these 
crops are fed locally and a large part of them without husking or 
thrashing. 
The average price of hay for the same territory during the same 
time has been $6.22 per ton. An arbitrary value of $4 per ton is 
assigned to the stover or fodder from each of the crops. This prob- 
ably is an overvaluation of milo, and possibly of corn, in comparison 
with kafir. The corn roughage is of a much better quality than in 
better corn sections. In many cases it contained some grain, but not 
enough to warrant husking. In some instances, as is shown in detail 
in the tables, the only production from milo and kafir has been that 
of roughage. This is an indication of generally unf avorable condi- 
tions and scarcity of feed. In such years any feed is comparatively 
valuable, as it makes it possible to carry over stock without loss or a 
reduction in numbers so serious as to unbalance the farming system. 
For the sake of uniformity the term " stover " is used in all the 
tables. 
RESULTS WITH CORN AT INDIVIDUAL STATIONS. 
The results with corn at these stations have been presented in a 
bulletin entitled " Corn in the Great Plains Area : Relation of Cul- 
