ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 



STATION— 1942 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 

 AND FARM MANAGEMENT 



A. H. Lindsey in Charge 



Competitive Factors Influencing the Supply of Market Milk and Cream in 

 Massachusetts. (A. A. Brown and Abigail Stone.) Bulletin 389, the last of three 

 bulletins based on the Sprlngfield-Holyoke-Chicopee Milkshed, was published 

 in 1942. 



The organization of production and distribution of sales throughout the State 

 are now being studied in relation to the program of the Massachusetts Division 

 of Milk Control. 



Transportation Requirements of Rural Communities in Massachusetts. 



(A. A. Brown and Abigail Stone.) A study of the amount of trucking necessary 

 for the movement of grain to farmers in the Amherst-Pelham area is near com- 

 pletion. One cause for excessive mileage is the frequent buying in small amounts 

 by many farmers. Much time and probably much mileage could be saved if 

 farmers would place their grain orders monthly and take at one delivery quanti- 

 ties up to the permissible mileage of the handler's truck. This sort of arrange- 

 ment would reduce stops by 50 percent and result In an average delivery of .48 

 tons per mile. Comparison with mileage under actual conditions was not pos- 

 sible because some operators kept neither trip nor mileage records. Study of 

 farmers' buying practices indicates that worthwhile reduction in mileage could 

 be accomplished by fully utilizing handler's equipment. 



Crop and Livestock Enterprise Relationships. (C. R. Creek.) 



Results of Pasture Improvement Practices. Detailed gr? zing records were kept 

 for the 1941 season, in connection with a record of milk production, barn feeding, 

 and pasture treatment. Acreage of pasture ranged from 10 to 113 acres per farm 

 with an average of 34 acres. More intensive improvement practices were applied 

 to the small areas. Size of dairy herds ranged from 8 to 45 cows per farm with an 

 average of 24 head. The length of pasture season was variable, chiefly because 

 of drought in late summer, and ranged from 65 to 164 days with an average of 121 . 



Results from the grazing of these pastures were calculated in pounds of 4 per- 

 cent milk, numiber of cow-days, and tons of green forage. For the relatively short 

 season of 1941 an average of 2017 pounds of 4 percent milk was produced from 

 each acre of improved pasture. The range per farm was from 313 to 6648 pounds 

 per acre. Cow-da^-s of grazing ranged from 22 to 152 on these farms with an 

 average of 74 per acre. Production of green forage was calculated as an average 

 of 2 tons per acre with a range from 0.5 to 3.0 tons per acre per farm. Returns for 

 individual fields on these farms varied more widely than the range given for 

 averages by farms. 



Improved pastures consisted of annual crops, Ladino Clover, mixed clover and 

 grass, and permanent grassland. Returns w^ere highest for Ladino Clover pastures 

 with 3,044 pounds of milk, 84 cow-days, and 2.7 tons of forage per acre. Clover 

 and grass pastures ranked second, followed by annual pasture crops and perma- 

 nent pastures. Returns were also calculated by types of treatment, but the 

 variation was slight. 



