Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-02-24

number OF hours for man, team, or
single horse, and figure the cost OF each
of these as closely as possible by divid-
ing the monthly expense for each by the
number Of working hours averag-
ed during the month. Be sure to figure
on the working hours, As q team or Q
man working by the month costs just as
| much when they are idle for any reason,
as when they are working. l have been
surprised at seeing some people figure a
man and team at from two to three dol
lars day. II hire man and team
from contractors, I have to pay from
five to six dollars day, and these men
are not getting rich on it at that either.
find, from my own figures, that my
own man and team, when board and lost
time are all figured in, cost me from
"a so to IS 90 per day, and l charge them
to our crops at that figure. II / pay a
man $50 90 per month and board, the
latter costing me over $40 90 per month,
figure that man at easily 80 90 per day
for the time he works, and more rather
than less. Wages rOundhere are higher
than in some parts of the country,
know, but We also get higher prices for
our products, so I think 1t evens up
pretty well.
After labor, | figure In cost of seed
and the amount of fertilizer that should
be fairly charged to the crop, allowing
that part Of fertility applied to any crop
ia carried over to the following crops.
For instance, the bulk of our farm ma.
nure is spread on sod in the fall and
plowed under for crop of corn the next
year, but do not charge all the cost of
that manure to the corn crop, as a good
part of the value OF II should be charged
to the others that follow it. Then the
cost of raising green manuriDg crops 10
added to the years. bill for manures and
fertilizers, and distributed to the various
crops in the same proportion as the
rest.
A person who has not figured the cost
Of crops in this way will be surprised to
see how they total up, and have found
that the only way to make real profit
on most Of the farm crops is to produce
an average that is far above the general
figures of the country. There 10 abso-
lutely no money to be made on the aver
age crop, and to make fair profit one is
forced to do some studying and close
figuring. One way that / have found
for reducing the cost of production of
most of the cultivated crops very
substantially, is to plan rotation
in such q way as to have the va
rieties that require hand hoeing come
within two years of the time sod has
been plowed under, as the weeds do not
seem to come in such enormous numbers
until after that time, and the expense OF
hand hoeing is very largely eliminated.
1t also pays we'll to top-dress good mead !
ows with some quick acting fertilizer to
increase the production. A slight addi-
tiopsl application Immediately after
haying will usually result in q consider
able crop Of rowen, IL there is reason |
able amount of rainfall, and this
makes the best of dairy feed,
though not as salable in the market as
the first crop. Another way to increase
your production per acre, and therefore
to reduce the cost of 1t per unit of value, |
is to have no land lying idle between
seasons, often raising two crops on the
same piece of land in one year. / al
ways seed to grass with some other
crop, either with oats or barley in the
spring, or with winter wheat in the fall. |
In either case, the nurse crop will usual
ly pay the cost of preparing the land for
the grass with fair profit in the bar
gain. Il
The few hints given show only small
part of the ways for reducing the cost OF
your crops, and there are just as many
methods of cutting the cost at the dairy |
end of the business, and also of adding
to the receipts there. II farmers will
give this matter the attention that it de- |
serves, they will be able to produce their
crops at profit, charge them to the
cows at fair market value, and yet
make the dairy pay its share as we'll.
This 10 a good time of year to start IN
and keep q strict account OF costs and
receipts, and get system to working
smoothly before the rush of the spring
work comes on. BY that time it will DO |
so much Of habit to make the few nee |
essary entries at the end Of each day
that It will naturally be kept up through
out the year. And will guarantee that
it will furnish al many surprises as the
COW censuses have done, aud that is
quite q number.-Chsrles Z. Prescott,
New York, in Hoard's Dairyman.