Smyrna times., 1926-09-15
DELAWARE SOIL IS DECLARED
TO Be VERY PRODUCTIVE
EXTENSIVE SURVEY OF FARM
CONDITIONS IN THE STATE
Cost of Harvesting Corn Excessive
Because of the High Cost of Labor
Comment by r. o. Bausman


That the harvesting of corn in Del
aware according to the methods that
have been in use for hundred years
is five times as costly as the plan fol-
lowed in the middle west; that the
biggest farms pay the most money in
general results; that those farms
which operate under a broad plan of
intensive activity are the best fnan-
cial producers, are some of the very
important and valuable details OBJ
tanned from a survey of 65 typical
farms in lower New Castle County.
The facts obtained in this survey
made under the direction of R. o.
Bausman, county agent for New Cas-
tie county, and assisted by the Uni
versity of Delaware extension service
and the United States Department of
Agriculture, and the county agents.
has just become public property.
1t was the idea of the survey made
more than a year ago, to determine
where farming methods could be i'm
proved and establish, on an undisput-
ed foundation, what crops paid best.
In the item dealing with the har-
vesting of corn, it was established by
experiments made in this State that
the old-time way and the method
which almost every farmer in Della
ware uses, the average cost of the
man labor in harvesting field corn,
was S11.56 per acre. Compared with
this was the new way such as is used
by the farmers in the corn belt of the
middle west, in which the average cost
Of the man labor was $3.50 per acre
In commenting on the method used in
Delaware and that in the middle west,
Mr.. Bausman said:
Field corn is a crop well adapted
to the soil type and climatic conditions
of the Middletown area. 1t is market
ed largely through the farm livestock,
although a portion Of the crop is sold.
According to the survey, 10 per cent
Of the total farm receipts Of the area
in 1924 was from the sale Of field
corn. The major problem encountered
in growing field corn in this area was
the high cost Of labor in harvesting
the crop. It has previously been
shown that the cost Of farm labor had
increased about one-third during the
period of 1914 to 1924, and that the
cost of a farm practice in this area
that is extravagant in the use of
labor, is the method Of harvesting
field corn. This method of harvesting
corn was adopted when labor was
cheap and plentiful, and has not been
re-adjusted to meet the existing con
ditions of the scarcity and high cost
Of farm labor. Two demonstrations
conducted BY the extension service of
the University Of Delaware in 1925
showed that the average cost per acre
of man labor in harvesting field corn,
through the use Of the present meth
Cd, was $11.56 but the average cost
per acre Of man labor in harvesting
field corn from the standing stalks on
two big farms in the West was $3.50.
"In recommending the harvesting of
field corn from the standing stalks, |
appreciate that there are several fac
tors entailed which are Of vital impor-
tance in crop and livestock manage
ment in this area. The first problem
encountered was, what roughages for
the dairy herds would replace corn
fodder when the corn is harvested
from the standing stalks? 1t is ap-
preciated that the value of hay in the
East is appreciably greater than in
the Middle West where this method of
harvesting corn is in general use. The
question is, whether or not the fodder
had a value for dairy feed equal to the
difference in the cost of harvesting
the crop by the two methods.
"It is a pertinent fact that the value
of the fodder for dairy feed was not
lost when the crops on these two
farms were harvested from the stand
ing stalks. AS soon as the corn was
husked the dairy herds had access to
the stalks until about the first Of Jan
uary. With the exception of the loss
of some Of the blades, the value of
fodder as a dairy roughage was con-
served. Each Of these farms grew
soy beans for a cash crop. When the
soy beans were threshed the straw
was blown into the NOW. The addi-
tional cost of saving the bean straw
was small. After the dairy herds had
finished grazing the stalks, the feed
ing of soy beans straw as a coarse
roughage was begun. These two
farmers consider that soy bean straw
was superior to corn fodder as sup
,Iov,,onFo1 o0area -o,1oLana for dairy