Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-16
COST OF CROPS.

W.T. Vt SuOE0s
Its leiaotlax sshs I<xass;s ssaai.,ss o.
Il t1M Presenstpa rs
FITS is undoth.sliy tie case in many
instances-one farmer can produce corn
.or: wheat at from 10 to 30 per cent. less
than his peishRor, it is casyato see that
one will prosper and the other fail ia
his business. l adopted the rule sew
eral years ago of keeping AN account
withsmy leading crops (wheat, corn ana
potatoes), and was strongly impressed
with the fact that the cost per b,lshel
.as!;the yield decreased per acre In
creased. There are some factors of cost
that can not be changed materially; for
ekampFe, Interest on the money invested
in the land, seed and the ordinary OPP
erations Of blowing and planting, and
these will be about the same whether
we raise ten or thirty bushels of wheat
to the acre, or twenty-five or seventy
five bushels of corn. Now if we take
$40 an acre as the smallest sum that
will pay ground rent, seed and labor,
tor growing crop of corn or wheat up
to the time of harvest. it will be seen
that at the lowest yields named 7,tAe
farmer must receive 81 q bushef for
wheat and 40 eents:l for corn to aaget
barely paid for his work and invest
ment, and then look to the straw and
cornstalks to pay. him for harvesting
the drop: If-as during the last year
the average prices of these. crops, are
from .15 to 25 per cent. below what I
have named, then life becomes strug-
gle with debt to the farmer who pro-
duces the minimum crops. The most
carefully prepared statistics taken by
both National and State authority show
that the corn crop of the United States
averages but little above thirty bushels
per acre, and the wheat above twelve
bushels. - :, 2. go.
Conccding those figures to be nearly
accurate, and remembering that large
per cent of farmers produce on an av-
erage from so to 100 per cent. above
them, we are forced to the conclusion
that an equally large per cent grow
crops below these averages, and find
no profit whatever in their business,
but merely subsist by pract;cing an
economy that is almost niggarlly. Now
1 believe it possible on many farms to
reduce the cost of production of all pro-
ducts to some degree and some of them
SO much as one-half, and will try to
show how 1 think it can be done. The
first thing ! should say to many farm
'ers would be: reduce the area of land
under cultivation. 1t is the besetting
sin among our Western farmers to
cultivate too much land; 1000 bush
els, of corn from twenty acres must
of necessity cost less than the same
grown on thirty acres of the same farm;
and the farmer who can raise 500 BUSH
els of wheat on twenty acres will realize
good profit, while his neighbor who
sows from thirty-five to fifty acres to get
the same amount will run behind. Now
these highest averages that I have
named are easily within reach of most
farmers and can be excelled by many.
l do not say that the farmer who has
been growing poor crops can at once
. hange. his system so as to increase
them to this extent, but / do believe
there. are few. farms where the, average
yields are. now at the minimum on
whichthey3 could not be: increased so
per cent. in less than ten years. One
hopeful feature of this plan of farming
a smaller. area and farming it more
thoroughly is that it is one which must
improve the land, while the plan of
keeping the largest part of the farm
under. the pillow necessarily cxhausts it.
l have tried during thirty years the
plan of keeping up the soil by buying
manure at the village and also by the
purchase OF. commercial fertilizers. but
some years ago abandoned them both
as too expensive, and determined that
the farm must be self-perpetuating to
the extent Of producing its; own fertiliz-
ers. and I have, been. greatly pleased
with the. results. Now the system of
farming which reduces the area under
cultivation enables :one to; do this in two
ways; tirst-and the cheapest and best
-by growing crops which fertilizc; and,
second, by raising stock to consume the
straw, hay and grain, and give a'large
amount of manure. Underline system
which practice on my little farm of
ninety acreSwe grow from ten to twenty |
acres; of clover every Year, which IS
neither cut nor pastured;, beltaliowed to !
make all the, growth it. will from har-
vest until. cold weather and then is |
ploWed down. Husually make growth
equal to that in the following June on
fields that are pastured closely in fhe
autumn, as -is,the almost universal prac-
tee Of farmers in this locality. and after |
a careful comparison rof its effect upon |
the soil l estimate its fertilizing value |
to average about sl2 per acre, BY which
l mean that it is worth to the crops as
much as dressing of stable manure
would be which would cost me SIP, if |
bought and drawn from the village two
miles distant. Lest this article become
too long, 1 will condense into sentence
the means by which we are to increase
our yield, and thus reduce the cost of
production: l. Decrease the area under
cultivation. 2. Follow a rotation which
viii put all the land in clover once in
two or three years. g.: Keep good stock
to consume the crops grown. 4. Make
the preparation of seed-bed and the cul-