786 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 23 
.0365, a pound of milk for .00488 cent, and a pound 
of butter fat for .1209 for cost of food consumed, with 
an average fat test of 3.98 per cent and 13.1 per cent 
solids, at the same time gaining 349 pounds in weight, 
coming certainly very close to a “general-purpose” 
animal. In localities where it is desirable to grow 
beef, a good calf or steer, and at the same time 
produce milk and butter at a moderate cost, this 
will be, I believe, the coming cow. Much has been 
said about the gain in weight by Short-horns, 802 
pounds, or an average of 160.4 pounds per cow. This 
was worth at three cents a pound $24.06. They are with¬ 
in $2.57 as much feed as the Holsteins and produced 
$59.04 less value of solids, $40.29 less value of butter 
fat. Their food cost $24.09 more than the Red Polls, 
for which they made $28.15 more value in solids and 
$18.87 less value in butter fat. As compared with 
the Ayrshires their feed cost $21.14 more, their solids 
were worth $8.89 less, and their butter fat $23.70 less. 
The Holsteins gained 391 pounds, the Red Polls 349, 
and the Ayrshires 218 pounds. It ought to be evi¬ 
dent in spite of the fine record made by this most 
valuable breed that it is vain to deny that dairying 
is not most profitable with a beef cow. The fore¬ 
going are some of the points that were brought out 
in the late breed test. There are many more that 
might be interesting, but these well digested will, I 
believe be a large enough dose for one sitting. 
EDWARD VAN AT.STVNE. 
COST OF WESTERN CORN PRODUCTION. 
The cost of producing a bushel of corn depends 
upon the yield per acre. This yield per acre in turn 
depends upon the fertility of the soil, the season, the 
character of seed, and other considerations. Con¬ 
sequently, most of the investigations for any indi¬ 
vidual year or locality show very widely different 
results. However, in considering the cost of raising 
an acre of corn, the results of the different men 
engaged in studying this problem generally agree. 
There are three particular instances where authentic 
records have been kept of the cost of producing corn 
in Illinois, and the Central West. First, the man¬ 
ager of the Sibley estate of about 20,000 acres, F. A. 
Warner, has kept a record of cost of the various 
operations in producing corn for his own use in 
handling their great crop. In thirj case the corn is 
produced on farms averaging 160 acres for each 
tenant, of which about 80 acres are kept in corn every 
year. The following table shows the cost of raising 
80 acres of corn and delivering two-fifths rent in 
Sibley, at the estate’s elevators, and tenant’s share 
in his cribs at the farm. The wages of man, team 
and tools are given as $3 per day, the average wage 
rate in that vicinity, except husking, which is esti¬ 
mated at $2.50 per day. Additional horses are 
charged for at the rate of 50 cents per day, and one 
man $1.50 per day. 
Operation. Rate. Cost. 
Fall plowing, 60 acres..$1.00 per acre. $60.00 
Breaking stalks, 20 acres.... 3.00 per team & man 6.00 
Spring plowing, 1 team 7 days 3.50 per day. 24.60 
Disking Fall plowing. 4.00 per day. 16.00 
Harrowing, 2 days. 3.50 per day. 7.00 
Seed corn, 13 bushels. .50 per bushel. 6.50 
Planting, 5 days. 3.00 per day. 15.00 
Harrowing after planting. . . . 3.50 per day. 8.75 
Cultivating, 2 teams 19 days. 3.00 per day. 114.00 
Pulling weeds, 4 days. 1.50 per day. 6.00 
Cutting turn rows, 4 days. .. . 1.60 per day. 6.00 
Husking corn, 2 teams 26 days 2.50 per day. 130.00 
Hauling rent . 2.50 per day. 30.00 
Extra work, I'eplantlng, etc. 10.00 
Total .$439.85 
The average yield per acre is about 40 bushels per 
acre, so that the cost per bushel on this basis would 
be 13.75 cents. This does not include the rent. If 
we take the Sibley rent system of two-fifths share for 
landlord as a basis, the cost of raising a crop for 
the tenant would be found by deducting two-fifths 
of 40 bushels from 40 and dividing the cost per acre 
by this figure. The total cost for 80 acres is $439.75. 
Therefore, for one acre the cost would be about $5.50 
per acre. Dividing this cost by 24 the tenant’s share 
of crop, the cost per bushel for the tenant is seen 
to be 22.9 cents per bushel. At the ordinary rate of 
rental in centl’al Illinois of one-half the crop, the 
cost would be 27.5 cents per bushel. The second 
record of the cost was made by the agricultural sta¬ 
tistician B. W. Snow. The following table shows 
Mr. Snow’s record of cost of producing corn in 4.051 
acres. 
Operation. 
Cutting stalks and breaking stalks.. . . 
Plowing . 
Harrowing . 
Ijlstlng. 
Fertilization . 
Planting and replanting. 
Seed ... 
Cultivation . 
Harvesting . 
Taxation . 
Team maintenance . 
Depreciative machinery . 
Depreciative horses . 
Average Cost 
Per Acre. 
.. $.054 
.425 
.144 
.027 
.809 
.155 
.082 
.679 
. . 1.372 
.283 
. . 1.450 
.209 
.149 
Total annual investment. $5,838 per acre 
Less value of fodder.781 per acre 
$5,057 per acre 
Cost per bushel at rate of average yield 39.2 
bushel per acre, 12.9 cents. This data does not take 
into account rent or interest on land. Mr. Snow 
presents a further table, taking up all items, in¬ 
cluding interest on the investment and on the land, 
as follows: 
Annual Investment or cost per acre... $5,057 
Interest on machinery.125 
Interest on horses...’.089 
Interest on animal investment.303 
Interest on land. 2.862 
Total . $8,436 
Total per bushel. 21.5 cents 
From these tables it can be seen that the records 
of Mr. "Warner and Mr. Snow closely agree, taking 
into account different conditions. The third investi¬ 
gation was conducted by the Department of Econom¬ 
ics of the University of Illinois, in charge of N. A. 
Weston. By averaging the records of several hun¬ 
dred farms for the year 1896, Mr. Weston found that 
the average cost per acre was $8.72, including rent 
of land. A tabulated cost in one instance was as 
follows: 
f’utling stalks . 
Plowing . 
Harrowing (smoothing) 
Planting . 
Harrowing .. 
Cultivating (3 times) 
Rent . 
Interest on equipment. 
Wear and tear. 
Seed . 
Harvest . 
$.19 per acre 
.90 per acre 
.17 per acre 
.28 per acre 
.26 per acre 
1.13 per acre 
3.25 per acre 
.22 per aci-e 
.42 per acre 
.12 per acre 
1.80 per acre 
Total . 8.74 per acre 
Yield, 46 bushels per acre. The cost per bushel 
was 19 cents. It would seem, therefore, that the 
cost of growing a crop of corn, including the rent 
or interest on investment and interest on the 
equipment would amount to about $8.75 per acre. 
The cost per bushel rests largely with the farmer. 
If a good farmer, the cost will be low and the profits 
NEW HYBRID BERRY, THE MAHDI. Fig. a55. 
See Ruralisms, Page 790. 
high; therefore, if a poor farmer, the profits will be 
low and the cost per bushel high. a. d. siiamel. 
HOME OF THE CALIFORNIA APPLE. 
Redskins Are Not Wanted! 
I recently took a trip up through the Pajaro 
Valley among the apple growers. Leaving the train 
at Chittenden, the end of the road leading from the 
valley up into the hills, I followed the grade for a 
couple of miles, when a widening of the canon 
revealed a hundred-acre apple orchard, where I spent 
some time asking questions. About three miles 
farther down the grade brought me out into the 
valley proper, and from this point on to Watson¬ 
ville there was little land that was not set out to 
apple orchards in all stages of growth, from one-year- 
olds up to 30 years or more. Fine crops of beets, 
squashes and corn were being harvested from the 
younger orchards. Watsonville was at one time the 
center of the sugar-beet industry of this coast and 
the factory, shown at Fig. 356, where the donkey en¬ 
gines are unloading beets, was the original plant. No 
sugar is manufactured there now, but a larger plant 
is in operation at Salinas, about 20 miles south, to 
which place all of the thousands of tons of Watson¬ 
ville beets are hauled on a narrow-gauge road owned 
by the Spreckles Company. Fig. 357 shows a four- 
horse load of beets on the way from the ranch to 
the yard at Watsonville. These wagons hold about 
five tons, and are loaded in a net, which covers the 
bottom and sides of the bed. When arrived at the 
yard and drawn up by the side of a car the donkey 
engine grabs hold of the net and yanks the whole 
load on to the car while one can count three. As 
soon as a train is loaded it is pulled out to make 
room for more empty cars. The growers are paid 
this season $4.50 per ton average for beets according 
to sugar test. 
Near the depot at Watsonville are located numerous 
packing houses where the great crop of Pajaro Valley 
apples is packed for shipment. The apples are 
packed in boxes, every apple is wrapped in paper, 
and supposed to be free from worms and otherwise 
sound. If the stem is gone or a blemish of any 
kind appears on the apple it is rejected. Fig. 358 
shows a load of apples and Fig. 359 a Watsonville 
orchard. These apples are almost all sold f. o. b. 
Watsonville, the buyer shipping where he pleases. 
The Newtown Pippins and Bellfiowers are largely 
purchased by agents from fruit dealers in London, 
and these two varieties comprise, I should say from 
observation, more than three-quarters of the entire 
crop. Prices this year are $1 per box for Bellfiowers, 
and $1.25 for Newtowns. Pearmains, Red and White, 
and Smith Cider make up the greater portion of 
the last quarter of the crop, while Missouri Pippins, 
Langford’s Seedling, Winesap, etc., are occasionally 
seen. A box of apples weighs from 40 to 44 pounds, 
varying according to variety and size. The supposed 
demand for red apples seems not to affect the plant¬ 
ings in the Pajaro Valley. In fact, the apple grow¬ 
ers seem to make room only grudgingly for any 
variety other than Newtown or Bellflower, and the 
result is that there are few orchards where a suc¬ 
cession of apples is planted for home use, and at 
the hotel I found only the two popular varieties, and 
they were too hard to be eatable. At a restaurant 
I called for baked apples or apple sauce, and was met 
with a look of surprise, which said by inference that 
apples are too common an article to make an appear¬ 
ance on their bill of fare. 
The Codling moth has been increasing rapidly in 
this section the last year or two, so much so that 
some of the growers are becoming alarmed. A 40- 
acre orchard of seven-year-old trees produced last 
season 10,500 boxes of sound fruit and about 35 
boxes of wormy apples. This season fully 50 per 
cent of the apples are wormy. Some growers have 
sprayed and banded their trees with good results, 
while others have done nothing, and have allowed 
their orchards to become breeding places for the 
moths. The San Jos6 scale has also appeared in 
some orchards, and some spraying has been done. 
One orchard that I visited seemed particularly clean. 
In conversation with the owner I found that only 
last year there was some scale there, and that it was 
alive with Woolly aphis. This was evident from a 
closer examination of the wood. A few trees had 
been sprayed, Init the main orchard had been cleared 
of aphis by the ladybugs and a lace-wing fly that 
earlier in the season was plentiful there. The lady- 
bugs were not the “twice-stabbed” variety that we 
have here, but were gathered in the brush near 
Lassajara Springs in the mountains. Mr. Rogers, 
the bug inspector for that district, told me that the 
“twice-stabbed” variety did not seem to thrive in 
their cool foggy climate, and that he was an advo¬ 
cate of spraying, his favorite wash being the lime, 
sulphur and salt mixture which was quite extensive¬ 
ly used in the Santa Clara Valley at one time, but 
is now almost entirely discarded. The invasion of 
the Pajaro Valley by the Codling moth is a serious 
matter, as it means a reduction in price from say $50 
per ton for sound apples to $4.50 per ton for wormy 
ones delivered to the driers. ii. g. keesling. 
SUCCESS WITH “CHEMICALS AND CLOVER.” 
Speaking of “chemicals and clover,” and the ques¬ 
tion just asked by a subscriber, on page 706, whether 
it will go, induces me to say that in 10 years I have 
taken good crops yearly, and some yeara two, from 
a heavy clay loam that was producing three-fourths 
of a ton of poor nay when we began. This season it 
produced a little over two tons per acre of good mar¬ 
ket hay, and the only fertilizer we have used has been 
200 pounds of any good general grain fertilizer and 
clover rowen plowed under. On parts where we have 
been able to put a little stable manure in addition to 
above we have cut over three tons per acre. I write 
this for the benefit of your subscriber or any others 
in like situation. I know that the problem was a 
stiff one for me when I started in. 
Vermont. c. a. chapma.n. 
JERSEY SWEET POTATOES FOR AUSTRALIA.—We 
shipped to-day to the Department of Agriculture, Syd¬ 
ney, New South Wales, Australia, two barrels of sweet 
potatoes for seed, consisting of 28 pounds Big Stem Jer¬ 
sey Yellow, 28 pounds Little Stem Jersey Yellow, 56 
pounds Jersey Red, 56 pounds Vineland Bush, 56 pounds 
Pierson, 56 pounds White Maryland. This shipment goes 
direct from New York to Sydney by steamer. Each 
potato was wrapped in paper. This Is a long way to 
ship sweet potatoes, as they are quite subject to rot. 
It is hoped, however, that at least a part of them will 
arrive in a sound condition. They will be bedded im¬ 
mediately on their arrival if sound, as the Summer there 
will be well advanced by that time. They will be about 
80 days on the water, and travel about 14,000 miles. 
Vineland, N. J. r. s. N. 
