1910. 
THii RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ear 
THE COST OF A CROP. 
No. 13—Connecticut Potatoes. 
On page 540 we gave the first items 
of expense in fitting two acres of pota¬ 
toes. Plowing and harrowing had cost 
$ 12 . We now have the second report as 
follows: 
Ovine to a heavy rain just before plant¬ 
ing. and the condition of the soil, it was 
thou,rot advisable to harrow the ground 
again. The ground was plowed last Au¬ 
gust. and was quite hard, so a man was 
employed with a Cutaway harrow for one 
day more, which brings the expense of lif¬ 
ting the soil to $20, which I think will 
pay in the end. The piece when planted 
was exceedingly mellow to the depth of 
six inches. Planting was done May 7 : 28 
bushels of seed being used. The varieties 
were Green Mountain and Early Rose. The 
soil is mostly sandy loam with the ex¬ 
ception of one-halt’ acre which is heavier 
soil, rather inclined to be moist. The 
further items of expense are : 
Harrowing 10 hours at 40c. per 
hour . $ 4.00 
4 bid. Northern-grown seed. 11.00 
17 hu. home-grown seed at 50c. 8.25 
1 ton 3%-6-l’0 fertilizer. 34.00 
2 men and team with planter. 8 
hours at 60c. 4.80 
862.05 
Connecticut. j. s. gunn. 
This makes a total of $74.05 for the 
two acres, with the seed planted, or 
$37.03 per acre. You will see that it cost 
Mr. Foster of Long Island (page 564) an 
average of $53.30 per acre. At Hope 
Farm the cost for something less than 
an acre was $30.25. 
No. 14—A Cotton Crop in Arkansas. 
As you request figures showing the ac¬ 
tual cost of growing crops, I submit the 
following for four acres of cotton : 
Breaking 27 hours, at 40c. per hour $10.80 
Marking rows, 4 hours at 30c. per 
hour .. 1.20 
Hauling manure, 20 hours, 2 hands 
and team . 12.00 
Mixing manure in furrow. 4 hours. . 1.20 
800 lbs. of fertilizer. 12.08 
Drilling in fertilizer, 4 hours. 1.20 
Mixing fertilizer in furrow. 4 hours. 1.20 
Redding land, 12 hours. 3.60 
Harrowing and planting, 2 hands, 8 
hours . 4.80 
4 bus. cotton seed at 50c. 2.00 
$50.28 
Land is a red clay soil, and is very old, 
but usually yields half bale cotton per 
acre without fertilizer. I am trying fer¬ 
tilizer this year for the first time. 
Bates, Ark. Hi c. b. 
We want to know the effect of that 
fertilizer as well as the analysis of it. 
You will notice that the cost of plowing 
varies somewhat in these different state¬ 
ments. 
No. 15—Corn Crop on Pasture Land. 
We are glad to have the following, as 
it makes a good contrast with the figures 
given on page 540 . 
I give below cost of labor and other 
costs on a field of corn Just planted. The 
field contains nine acres and has been used 
for pasture for a number of years. I pur¬ 
pose to apply fertilizer when I cultivate 
the corn. 
Plowing, 37 hours at 40c. $14.80 
Harrowing twice, 11 % hours at 40c. 4.60 
Marking check rows (3 feet 8 inches 
both ways), 10 hours. 4.00 
Planting with hand planter, 16% 
hours at 20c. 3.30 
1 bu. 21 qt. seed corn at $1.00 
per bu. 1.63 
$28.33 
Long Island. b. f. hallock. 
Compare this with Mr. Foster’s report. 
Mr. Foster used 57 tons of manure on 
four acres. Mr. Hallock has plowed 
pasture land and will use fertilizer later. 
We shall have a good chance to compare 
manure with “chemicals and sod.” It cost 
Mr. Foster $1.80 to plow and roll an 
acre while Mr. Hallock spent $2.15 per 
acre on the pasture sod. We want the 
cost of fertilizer and the cost of culture. 
No. 16—An Ohio Corn Crop. 
For still further comparison here is 
the preliminary statement of a corn crop 
in Jefferson County, Ohio. This is for 
five acres of soil varying from sandy to 
clay loam. It was plowed in April and 
planted May 7 to Learning corn. \\ e 
shall have the cost of cultivating later. 
To labor and expense of five acres corn : 
50 tons manure, at $2.00. $100.00 
35 hours hauling, 2 men, at 50c. . . . 17.50 
30 hours plowing, at 40c. 12.00 
15 hours harrowing, at 50c., three 
horses .. 7.50 
8 hours rolling, at: 50c. 4.Oft 
6 hours marking both ways, at 40c. 2.40 
8 hours planting, 2 men, 1 horse... 4.00 
1 bushel seed. 2.00 
2% tons lime, at 6c. 15.00 
4 hours spreading lime. 1.60 
3% hours harrowing after planting. 1.75 
6 per cent, interest on $250 value of 
land . 15.00 
$192.75 
JEFFERSON COUNTY FARMER. 
This farmer puts in the interest on his 
land. We should leave that out until the 
end of the season, for what we are now 
after is cost and wages. Leaving out the 
$15 it cost this Ohio farmer $35.55 per 
acre to get the corn planted. He paid 
$4.70 per acre for fitting the soil. The 
manure at his price and for hauling cost 
$23.50 per acre. You will see that Mr. 
Foster of Long Island (Crop No. 1 ) 
valued manure at $1.85 and $ 2 . Delivered 
on the ground this manure cost, on Long 
Island, $34.28 per acre. 
No. 1_A Corn Crop on Long Island 
The first report of this four-acre field 
of corn on Long Island was given on 
page 540. The cost of manure and fitting 
the land was $144.35. Mr. Foster now 
sends the following additional items : 
0 hours harrowing. 3 horses, 50e... $ 4.50 
2 hours rolling, 2 horses, 40c. ,80 
3 hours harrowing, 2 horses, 40c.. 1.20 
4% hours marking, 1 horse, 30c... 1.35 
8 hours planting, man, 20c. 1.60 
8 hours covering, man, 20c. 1.60 
1% bushel corn. 70c. 1.05 
Total .$11.90 
Thus we have a total of $156.25 for the 
four acres of corn as planted—or $39.06 
per acre, and all the cultivation, cutting 
and husking to follow. Now the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture claims that the av¬ 
erage yield per acre in New York State 
last year was 36 bushels of corn, with 
an average value of $26.64. Wait and see 
what Mr. Foster produces on this field. 
A CONCRETE COFFIN. 
A Reader .—I have l>een reading of a 
man who left directions in his will for burial 
in a coffin of concrete. Is there any truth 
in the report? 
Ans. —Yes, the man was Wm. Lay 
who lived for many years in Honeoye 
Falls, N. Y. Mr. Lay was somewhat 
eccentric, but a well-read man who gave 
detailed instructions regarding the dis¬ 
position of his body. “The grave was 
dug to about the average size, and in the 
bottom was laid a foundation of re¬ 
inforced concrete; then the side and end 
walls were brought right up the shape of 
a coffin or box built of reinforced con¬ 
crete, and the body was laid therein, 
wrapped in a winding sheet, and after¬ 
wards the grave was filled with soft 
concrete and raised above the surface 
of the ground full size of the grave, 
about two feet in height, and on this 
concrete block the name and age is to 
be placed.” 
EXPLOSION OF AIR TANK. 
The clipping here given has a direct 
bearing on the compressed air spraying 
question : 
Yolxgstowx, April 2G. —An air tank 
on a city flushing wagon blew up last 
night and several persons narrowly es¬ 
caped serious injury. The driver was at¬ 
taching the hose to a plug when the ex¬ 
plosion occurred. The wagon seat was 
blown into an Italian's yard 100 feet away. 
When the driver went to get the seat the ; 
Italian refused to give it up, saying. 
•‘Frighten children. Me keep seat, evi¬ 
dence in suit. Me sue city for dam.” 
The newspapers are so inaccurate, and 
careless of details that it is quite safe 
and very logical to infer that the driver 
was detaching the hose from a plug 
when the tank exploded. If so, the 
presaure was probably less than 6(1 
pounds per square inch; perhaps much 
less. The smaller size of the sprayer 
tank would not eliminate all the dan¬ 
ger, since a high pressure is necessary. 
The item was clipped from the Cleve¬ 
land Plain Dealer of the above date. 
A. G. M. 
Cover Crop for Vermont. 
8. T. J/., St. Albans, Yt. -This far north 
Crimson clover does not endure our Winter 
weather well, is very liable to winter-kill. 
Would I get the same and as good results 
by sowing Medium Red clover and Cow-liorn 
turnip for a cover crop and to plow under? 
Please state the proportion best to sow 
one acre and if there is anything better 
for this purpose for this latitude. All I 
desire is a cover crop for plowed land and 
to plow under a crop with the least drain 
upon the fertility of the land. 
Ans. —We think the seasons in your 
latitude are too short to obtain much 
growth of Red clover when sown in the 
Fall. Vetch might answer, but we think 
Winter rye seeded with Cow-horn tur¬ 
nips would on the whole prove most sat¬ 
isfactory, about three pecks of rye with 
two pounds of turnip seed scattered 
through the corn will make a fair growth. 
The rye will grow from a foot to 15 
inches high before corn planting time. 
Concrete Wall for Manure Shed. 
E. M. K. (.Yo A tl dress ).—Would you 
build the wall for a manure shed of the 
mixture one part lime, one part cement and 
12 parts lake shore gravel (perfectly 
clean)? Wall, five feet high, entirely above 
ground? 
Ans. — I certainly would build a wall 
as described above from the materials 
mentioned, the working of which I have 
several times described or referred to 
in these columns. It will be just as 
tight and strong, and much cheaper than 
where only cement and sand are used. 
It will take longer to set. My neigh¬ 
bor. Mr. Morrell, has a manure pit 
wall, made in this way, put up a number 
of years ago, and it is apparently as 
good to-day as when first constructed. 
Let me again say first slake the lime, 
then mix in the gravel, and add, and 
work in the cement as it is put into 
the forms. edw’d van alstyne. 
Willie: “Ma, can’t I go out on the 
street for a little while? Tommy Jones 
says there’s a comet to be seen.” Mother: 
“Well, yes; but don’t you go too near.” 
—Boston Transcript. 
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