The Effect of Soil Type, Species and 

 Fertility on the Minor Elements 

 in New Hampshire Forage 



The timothy plots on the Paxton 

 soil in Strafford were sampled for 

 yield and chemical analysis in June, 

 1951. These plots were topdressed in 

 1947 with two levels of cobalt, ni- 

 trogen, lime and potassium as vari- 

 ables. These samples will be analyzed 

 to determine the lasting effects of 

 the different variables on the cobalt, 

 manganese and phosphorus content 

 of the timothy. 



Similar plots in a Gloucester soil 

 in East Candia were sampled in 

 June, 1950. The results showed that 

 potassium decreased the yield of tim- 

 othy on the low nitrogen plots but 

 increased it on the high nitrogen 

 plots; potassium increased the yield 

 of red clover at both levels of nitro- 

 gen. Nitrogen increased the yield of 

 timothy and decreased the yield of 

 red clover. Potassium significantly 

 increased the manganese content of 

 timothy, but significantly decreased 

 it in the red clover. High nitrogen 

 decreased the manganese content of 

 timothy at both levels of potassium, 

 but added potassium prevented a sim- 

 ilar decrease in the manganese con- 

 tent of the red clover. 



Both nitrogen and lime significant- 

 ly decreased the cobalt content of 

 tmiothv and red clover, and, when 

 they were applied together, the effect 

 was additive. 



None of the treatments had any 

 significant effect on phosphorus con- 

 tent of either timothy or red clover. 



The plots laid out on the Paxton 

 soil in Northwood, completely con- 

 founding the four-factor interaction 

 of specie x lime x fertility x micro- 

 elements were sampled for yield, 

 specie content, and chemical analy- 

 sis. These samples will be analyzed 

 for micro-elements. The chemical 

 work in the 1950 samples has not 

 been completed. 



Greenhouse work on soil from this 

 field was continued. Barley was 

 grown in the soil on which the pre- 

 vious yield of oats was significantly 

 decreased by applications of lime at 

 three different levels of fertility. The 

 results showed that the two-ton ap- 

 plication significantly increased the 

 yield of barley at the 1 per cent 

 level, the four-ton application at the 

 5 per cent level, and the six-ton appli- 

 cation significantly decreased the 

 vield at the 5 per cent level. Another 

 series of pots was set up to try to 

 overcome the depressing effect of 

 lime on the yield of oats. Applica- 

 tions of manganese, boron, man- 

 ganese and boron, copper, zinc, mag- 

 nesium, potassium, magnesium and 

 potassium, and iron failed to correct 

 this trouble. 



G. P. Percival 



D. JOSSELYN 



Agricultural Economics 



Cost Reduction Possibilities 

 On Dairy Farms 



The over-all appraisal of cost re- 

 duction opportunities shows that 

 dairy farmers could add significantly 

 to their net earnings by fuller re- 

 source use through more complete 

 adoption of current technological in- 

 formation. Much new technology 



does not materially reduce unit costs; 

 it does, however, allow increases in 

 volume of business with no increase 

 in labor force, which increases both 

 gross and net earnings. Comparison 

 of ideally organized one-, two-, and 

 three-man farms shows that size of 

 operation offers little opportunity to 

 1 educe unit production costs on dairy 



