Part 14

It is accordingly necessary to keep costs down and to bring yields up. Each item of cost must be scrutinized and adjusted to bring lowest cost per ton or per package.

In counting costs, it is necessary to include every element. The following summary from 118 Western New York farms for 1934 for cannery tomatoes illustrates the various items:

----------------------------------------------------------- | | Per cent | | of total Growing costs: | | Land | $ 7.66 | 9.17 Manure | 3.91 | 4.68 Commercial fertilizer | 8.21 | 9.83 Plants | 15.55 | 18.62 Plowing | 3.42 | 4.10 Fitting | 3.83 | 4.59 Applying fertilizer | 1.65 | 1.98 Setting | 5.41 | 6.48 Cultivating | 6.38 | 7.64 All other growing costs | 2.14 | 2.56 |--------------------- Total growing costs per acre | $58.16 | 69.65 Harvesting and delivering (8.2 tons) | 25.34 | 30.35 |--------------------- Total costs | $83.50 |100.00 -----------------------------------------------------------

All too often, growers think they are counting costs when such important items as interest, use of truck and machinery or others are omitted. One sometimes sees such figures in print.

One good way to view returns is in terms of cents per hour for labor. Cost accounts in New York have showed that a group of farmers who raised cannery tomatoes the nine years up to 1937 and whose records were studied, realized $0.34 per hour for their time given to tomatoes, $0.51 for potatoes, $0.24 for wheat, and $0.11 for oats.

SELECTED REFERENCES

This book is not a monograph in the scientific sense and no attempt has been made to cite references for all statements. This list is intended to include the publications that are likely to prove most useful to one who wishes to read further about tomatoes. There are many others of great value, most of them being included in bibliographies in the works cited below.

Unless otherwise stated, references are to publications of the state experiment stations, addresses of which may be obtained by writing Office of Experiment Stations, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

General

Beattie, W. R. Tomatoes as a truck crop. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Farmers Bul. 1338. 1923.

Snyder, G. B. and Dempsey, P. W. Tomato production in Massachusetts. Mass. Ext. Leaf. 51. May, 1937.

Porter, D. R. and MacGillivray, John H. The production of tomatoes in California. Calif. Exp. Sta. Cir. 104. 1937.

Cochran, H. L. Improved methods of tomato production in Georgia. Ga. Exp. Sta. Bul. 206. 1940.

Huelsen, W. A. Growing tomatoes in Illinois. Ill. Exp. Sta. Cir. 451. 1936.

Balch, W. B. Growing tomatoes in Kansas. Kan. Exp. Sta. Cir. 172. 1933.

Seaton, H. L. Tomato growing in Michigan. Mich. Exp. Sta. Ext. Bul. 156. 1936.

Allen, E. J. and Talbert, T. J. Tomato culture in Missouri. Mo. Exp. Sta. Cir. 173. 1934.

Schermerhorn, L. G., Tiedjens, V. A., et al. Questions and answers relative to tomato production. N.J. Exp. Sta. Ext. Bul. 174. 1936.

Raleigh, G. J. Growing tomatoes for market. Cornell Ext. Bul. 377. 1937.

Tracy, W. Tomato culture. Orange Judd Co. 1907.

Work, Paul. Tomato production. Orange Judd Co. 1926.

Pellett, F. C. and M. A. Practical tomato culture. A. T. De La More Co. 1930.

Food Value

Atwater, W. O., and Woods, C. D. The chemical composition of American food materials. U.S. Dept. of Agr., Office of Expt. Stas. Bul. 28. 1896.

Sherman, H. C. Food products. Macmillan. 1924.

Miller, Elna. Tomatoes, their value and uses. Utah Exp. Sta. Cir. 47. 1932.

Ellis, Eliz. E. Using tomatoes in family meals. N.H. Exp. Sta. Cir. 225. 1940.

Cannery