Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-26
UNION AND AMERICAN.
FARM AND GARDEN.
COST OF Production.

Mr.. G. Wilson, of Slatesburg, New
York, writes: 1T has been said that
corn can be raised in the West at
cost Of five to seven cents per bushel,
and in New England at a cost Of thirty
to forty cents, while the cost Of pro-
ducing wheat is variously estimated
from twenty cents to one dollar, ac-
cordiug to locality, etc. From my own
experience in regard to Indian corn, 1
am satisfied it can be produced In the
Eastern States at less than the usual
estimate. The low figures given as the
bottom limit at the West, are Of course
exceptional. But however practical
men may differ in their estimates Of
these crops, the discussion of the sub
ject is timely and profitable.
Farmers are generally beginning to
realize that the cost of production is
the great pivotal question on which
their success or failure must depend.
Until quite recently the Importance Of
this subject, strange as it may seem,
has been comparatively overlooked,
and there Is even now scarcely one
farmer in fifty who can tell with any
accuracy or certainty what his cereals
when harvested have cost per
bushel, or what his poultry and NUT
ton, his beef, butter and pork, have
cost per pound. For this slovenly
mode Of husbandry there is neither ne
cessity nor excuse, and there Is proba-
bly, no other regular and legitimate
business wherein such Indifference to
the main question would be considered
possible.
The main difficulty lies in the fact
that farmers have no clear ideas Of the
things that form a crop of grain of any
kind, or one Of cotton, tobacco, roots or
grass. They put no estimate or value
on the raw material consumed to make
a ton of wheat, corn, hay or cotton
seed and lint. What the soil loses IL
one year, five or ten years, is an I'M
known quantity. Some thinking farm
ers affirm that agriculture never can
become anything like an exact science,
owing to very uncertain weather dur
ing the growth of all crops, being some
times cold, frosty, cloudy, or the re-
verse, too wet or too dry, or the mean
between all extremes. There is much
force is this reasoning; yet by the aid
Of drainage and irrigation, and more
skillful tiIlage, one can fix an average
cost Of production to a bushel Of corn
rs well as to a pound Of sole leather or
a pillow. It is impossible for farmers to
raise wheat and other crops for con-
sumption in cities and villages, and
keep up the fertility of land without
the cooperation Of townspeople. Res
titution to the depleted soil must come
from the real consumers.
No cultivator Of the earth can make
the bone material IN the meat, milk,
grain, fruit and vegetables wasted IN
cities, from nothing, or from land re-
ally impoverished by bad husbandry.
Cheap and wholesome living supplies
full restitution to all titled ground.
How shall this be done so as to deter
mine the cost of raising man or q
woman, or any domestic animal? Prob
ably one half Of the work that viii be
done in the year 1875 viii result in as
much harm as good. A field that
Yields ten bushels Of corn per acre may
be daspoiled of fertilizing elements suf-
ficient to make 100 bushels per acre in
the next four years. Labor that de-
pletes the virgin soil, or increases
paupers, crime or vice Of any kind, is
not to be commended as profitable.
What does 1t cost to make our farms
inst what they are, and our social con-
ditiou Just what it IS: Is there room
for improvement and a desire to better
our condition? Do we understand the
full meaning Of cheap production, using
all the forces Of great nature to the
best advantage? The hard freezing
which meIlows SO much. plowed land
costs nothing and may have injured
some wheat that needs more draining
than it has received. Every crop ana
field shouId have attention. Wheat
oats. clover and European grasses
should be sown early to catch spring
rains and get an early start.
ORCEEARD-GRAss AND BLUEGRASS