Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-03-06
Wheat ana Corn Growing.

Il b not often the statement is made
tAat the largest production of crops is
not necessarily the most profitable; in
aact. the tendency is to urge high farm
ing by thorough cultivation and by the
tree use of fertilizers. without carefully
consd ering the relations between the
cost of such high farming and the value
of the crop obtained. Prof. Jordan, of
the Pennsylvania State College, re-
gently said in regard to the question,
allow can the production of cereal
crops be economically increased" that
the profits coming from increased pro-
duction rapidly decrease or stop when
that increase reaches q certain moder-
ate number 1.-THE maximum crop that
IS profitable will vary with soil and To-
scality. The area of farm land in Penn
sylvania that can be made to yield
profitably more than thirty-five bushels
of wheat to the acre is very limited in
most localities. Every bushel above
that yield will cost in time and fertiliz-
+ers more than its value. 1t is unbusi-
ness-like to strain every point for
large crop when a smaller one will
bring greater profit III
During nineteen years the reported
wheat yield of PENNSYLVANIA has never
has often fallen far below that. The
average cost of production, as reported.
was S2z.1l per acre for wheat and
4$2239 for corn, but these figures, Prof.
Jordan thinks, are too high. en- the
college farm carefully Kept accounts
showed an average cost or $l1.2O for
wheat and $10.1 for corn production.
Adding interest and taxes would bring
these figures up to S1s and ST. per acre
respectively. A crop of less than eighteen
bushels of wheat or of thirty live. BUSH
els of shelled corn per acre would not
balance this outlay. Considering these
two crops by themselves. and not as
part of system of rotation, they are
produced at a loss.
While he does not intimate that ''a
Ittle farm well filled" may be more
profitable. under some circumstances.
Prof. Jordan sees that there a~e grave
OBJ tons to the solution offered by
many authorities of the problem of
growing grain profita ly. ''if farmer
can cultivate the many acres in a slip
shed way only, and can find pa ing
employment TO- his wo king force when
not engaged at home. he had bett re-
duce his a ca OF TIL ID land and let
p 1T lie ID c "a her than cul :vate it at a
los'. b t he can not always cOnve.t
the time OF his men and ans in o
cash and, in such case, itwould be b
t@r to get small pay for tillng the rye
ar q. Sma' areas well titled a e m re
suitable to the ia mer who depends al
m ,st entirely on hired labor.
''The grave objection to this solution
is that with small areas the possibilities
of business successes in agriculture are
limited. The possible profits on ten
acres a twice as great as the profits
from five acres under similar conditions.
Agriculture offers no exception to the
general rule that small business pays
small gross profits. "a little farm well
titled" is not sound maxim for grain
farmers. They need to work theii,
farms harder for an increase of produc-
ton on increasing areas. His land and
buildings are the farmers fixed capital.
His stock, machinery and the money
used in bis business are his floating cap
ifal, and this last is often too small
when compared w tn the first. If it be
objected that many famers own their
farms. and that is about all. the answer
must be that their lack of capital is just
rs fatal to the highest success in farm
ing as it is in other business. Large
income only comes from the investment
of large capital Chicago Tribune.