16 
BULLETIN 1188, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The table shows clearly that although the increased yields within 
these groups required greater costs per acre in labor and material, 
as well at greater total costs per acre, the additional bushels produced 
more than covered the additional costs and resulted in lower costs 
per bushel. 
Table 10. — Relation of yield per acre to costs, 1 per cent of average. 
Number 
farms. 
Average 
yield per 
acre. 
Man 
labor. 
Horse 
Labor. 
Total cost. 
Yield group. 
Materials. 
Per acre. 
Per 
bushel. 
59 
93 
161 
81 
67 
57 
80 
99 
119 
144 
86 
97 
99 
106 
112 
87 
99 
100 
107 
104 
93 
91 
97 
113 
109 
89 
96 
99 
108 
110 
149 
70 to 89 
112 
90 to 109 
94 
110 to 129 
86 
130 and over 
72 
1 In preparing this table the items for each farm were expressed as percentages of the averages of the 
items for the area in which the farm was found. 
ANALYSIS OF ITEMS OF COST. 
LABOR. 
The rates per hour for man and horse labor used in computing the 
costs in the different areas are shown in Table 11. The rates for man 
labor are based on wages paid to hired labor plus the value of board 
consumed in the household. The operator's labor is computed at 
the same rate as hired labor. The rates for horse labor are based on 
cost-account records which had been taken in the different States 
under conditions similar to those prevailing in the sections where the 
potato studies were made. 
Table 11. — Man and horse labor rates per hour, 1919. 
Minnesota. 
Wisconsin. 
Michigan. New York. 
Maine. 
Clay 
county. 
Anoka 
County. 
Barron 
County. 
Wau- 
paca 
County. 
Mont- 
calm 
County. 
Grand 
Trav- 
erse 
County. 
Steuben 
County. 
Monroe 
County. 
Aroos- 
took 
County. 
Man labor 
SO. 40 $0. 35 
.24 
$0.34 
.20 
$0.32 
.20 
$0.32 
.20 
$0.30 
.20 
$0.30 
.24 
$0.32 
.24 
$0.38 
.24 
The cost of man labor and horse labor is dependent on two factors, 
namely, hours spent on the crop and the cost of this labor per hour. 
The hours of man labor were more nearly constant from year to 
year than w T ere wages, which have fluctuated greatly during the past 
few years. Quantities, therefore, will be stressed in the following 
discussions of labor and of other items of cost. The variations in 
farm practices in growing potatoes, which affect the hours of labor 
required, are discussed under the following different operations: 
Manuring, preparation, planting, spraying, cultivating, harvesting, 
and marketing. The variations in the practices followed in the nine 
areas are shown in Tables 12 to 20. They show the usual as well as 
the unusual practices in each region. The most common crew in 
