COST AND PROFIT OF RAISING WHEAT, ETC., IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UNION. 243 
One and one third bush, seed wheat, 
at 15 cts. per bushel, 
1.00 
Sowing and harrowing in, . 
o M 
Furrowing and cleaning furrows, 
. 0.50 
Harvesting, &c., 
1.50 
Threshing and cleaning (by Pitt’s 
separator), . . * . 
2.00 
$8.90 
An acre thus managed may be safely estimated 
to yield twenty-five bushels ($8.90 divided by 25 
=36f), at the cost of 36i cts. per bushel. The 
above may, perhaps, sound somewhat theoretical, 
but in practice it wiil be found nearly correct. In 
proof, I offer, gratuitously perhaps, the cost of each 
year’s crop, with the yield per acre, drawn from 
accounts carefully kept from the year 1839 to the 
year 1846, inclusive. 
1839, cost 271 cents, average yield 44§ bushels. 
1840, 
it 
324 
it 
a 
24* 
U 
1841, 
U 
28 “ 
U 
u 
27 rV 
U 
1842, 
34— 
Li 
22 
1843, 
it 
29i « 
U 
282 
u 
1844, 
1 
56 « 
u 
Li 
12 £ 
ll 
1845, 
u 
33^ “ 
it 
U 
261 
(! 
1846, 
u 
38 
it 
U 
18 3*2 
U 
in my estimate, there is no charge for manuring. 
I cannot say that the crop would not be greatly 
increased by a judicious application of manure • 
but the prevailing opinion is, that it tends to pro¬ 
mote too great a growth of straw at the expense of 
the grain. 
Corn. 
Interest on one acre of land, at $15 per acre, 
6 per cent. 6 months, .... $0.45 
Once plowing sward, clover lea, or stubble, 1.00 
Harrowing and furrowing, . . . 0.50 
Seed and planting, . . . . 0.37£ 
Cultivating and hoeing, first time, . . 0.50 
Twice cultivating, . 0.50 
Husking on the hill, . . .1.50 
Shelling and cleaning, . . . .1.50 
$5.82 h 
An acre, thus managed, will yield fifty bushels 
($5.82£ divided by 50, = 11| cents), at the cost of 
Ilf cents per bushel. In this crop manure is sel¬ 
dom used. This fact, however discreditable to 
the intelligence of the mass of our farmers, speaks 
volumes in proof of the enduring fertility of our 
soil, which thus unaided, continues to yield an un- 
diminished tribute to the cultivator. 
Statement of R.W. Griswold , of Ashtabula, Ohio. 
—Yours, with inquiries of the Commissioner of Pa¬ 
tents, as to the expense of raising wheat and corn 
in my vicinity, is before me. 
Most of our farmers raise wheat for their own 
consumption only, adopting at different times, some¬ 
times a naked summer fallow and at others fallow¬ 
ing wheat after all corn, potatoes, &c., and occa¬ 
sionally turning in a green crop, such as clover. 
On farms where much wheat is raised, a naked 
summer fallow is, as elsewhere, the most common 
system adopted. 
Under the latter system the profits are (without 
rendering an excess of cost over the others), much 
greater. Still it is disputable what system is the 1 
best, as under the other the profits of a spring crop 
must enter into the estimate as credit, subject, he - 
ever, to the loss to the land by two crops insl 1 
I of one. 
Considering a naked summer fallow as the n. 
common method elsewhere, it will, I pre: ..o, be 
most satisfactory to base my estimates on tins sys¬ 
tem. 
In the case of corn, my estimates are based on a 
supposed case where land is so cultivated as to re¬ 
main in about the same condition ; the soils such as 
on the whole is most natural for corn; that dry¬ 
land free from clay. 
On mucky land the crop will exceed fifty bushels 
but the expense and risk are greater. On some or 
our worn-out land, the expense will be much more 
than the value of the crop. These variable causes 
will induce a wide difference in the estimates of 
different individuals. 
Question.—What is the expense of raising a 
bushel of wheat in your vicinity % 
Answer.—Fifty cents. Thus, 
One acre. 
To one third, $5.40 value of man and labor 
of manuring it, 
. $1.80 
Interest on $ 20 , two years, 
2.4Q 
Plowing once,. 
1.50 
Harrowing four times, 
2.00 
Rolling, ...... 
0.50 
One and half bushel of seed, . 
1.50 
Sowing, ...... 
0.25 
Harvesting, ..... 
1.50 
Cr. by 22 -^ bushels (average.) 
$11.45 
Any of our rolling lands with stumps and under 
the above system will yield from fifteen to thirty- 
five bushels, while under the other the average is 
not over ten. The use of the land for sheep dur¬ 
ing the two years, while the crop is off and also 
sometimes feeding the lambs, are not taken into 
view. 
What is the cost of raising a bushel 
of corn 1 
Twenty cents. Thus, 
Interest one year on $ 20 , 
- $ 1.20 
Manure as above, - 
1.80 
Once plowing, - 
1.50 
Second harrowing, - 
1.00 
Planting,. 
1.50 
Cultivating with man and horse, 
3.00 
Cr. by 50 bushels (average.) 
$ 10.00 
If the expense of harvesting and stock is includ¬ 
ed, say, $1.75, the amount will be swelled, but we 
do not generally estimate them as the shucks and 
pumpkins will generally serve them over the last. 
The same allowance is made in the case of wheat. 
The straw pays six per cent, on the threshing, &c. 
Statement of Thomas J. Henley , of Washington 
City. —As a general remark, it is true that wheat 
can be produced upon prairie land at an expense of 
not exceeding twenty-five cents per bushel, in good 
seasons when no misfortune befals the crop. Some 
seasons the blight cuts off the entire crop. As 
wheat does not grow two years in succession up¬ 
on the same land, every alternate year you must 
