ANNUAL REPORT, 1936 7 



tations, there is little rationality to the structure of net farm prices for that 

 portion of the shed. Trucking and trucking charges, deliveries, and butterfat 

 tests for producers supplying Northampton are subject to the same limitations 

 as net prices, although not in as high degree. 



More satisfactory results can be realized by analyzing the shed in its entirety. 

 Approximately 2,300 producers in this milkshed supply the four secondary 

 markets and a Boston milk plant. Of this number, roughly 1,900 produced for 

 the Springfield market area in 1935. A complete record for 1935 is available 

 to date for only 90 percent of the milk. It is expected that selected ratios, 

 such as seasonal variation in production, butterfat test, and market sales, 

 determined on the basis of this volume will hold even after adjustments have 

 been made for the balance. 



Average daily deliveries for this volume of milk showed a 25 percent variation, 

 from 200,000 pounds in November to 251,785 pounds in June. These quantities 

 do not represent the smallest nor the largest day's receipts in 1935. They indi- 

 cate that every day in November deliveries tended to be lower than daily de- 

 liveries in any other month of the year. And in the opposite direction, every 

 day in June deliveries tended to be higher than daily deliveries in any other 

 month. 



The months of highest and lowest average daily sales by dealers did not cor- 

 respond to the months of highest and lowest average daily deliveries by pro- 

 ducers. Average daily sales varied from 134,556 pounds in August to 157,645 

 pounds in March — a range of 17.1 percent. 



Average daily surplus was lowest in January when sales were above the 

 August level and deliveries were appreciably lower than in June. 



A Study of Farm Organization and Soil Management Practices in 

 Massachusetts in Relation to Agricultural Conservation and Adjust- 

 ment, with Special Reference to the Formulation of a Program under 

 the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. (C. R. Creek, in 

 cooperation with the Departments of Economics and Agronomy.) The results 

 of this project are reported in full elsewhere (see report of the Department of 

 Economics). The records taken on 113 dairy farms in ten counties showed that 

 58 farms had only seeded pasture fields which had been improved by fertilizing 

 treatment. The pasture on 19 farms had been treated with fertilizing materials 

 but had not been seeded. On 36 farms both seeded and non-seeded pasture 

 had been fertilized. On the majority of farms the seeded and fertilized pasture 

 fields yielded many more days of grazing per acre than did the non-seeded 

 fertilized pasture. Comparisons were made of the grazing secured from annual 

 pasture, rowen pasture, and open untreated pasture as well as that from the 

 treated pastures. 



The effect of pasture improvement and other factors upon farm organization 

 and operation is being studied more intensively on four farms. A case study 

 of each farm for the year prior to any pasture improvement and for the year 

 1935 is in progress now, in an effort to determine the economic feasibility of 

 pasture improvement as well as its place in a land conservation program. The 

 desirability and need of pasture improvement as a soil conservation practice 

 is also being studied. 



