74 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 240 



The Granby Area. 



Farmers in no other area studied used so little man labor per acre of po- 

 tatoes in 1926 as the Granby farmers. The elevation varies from 240 to 300 

 feet above sea level and the fields are relatively level and regular in shape. 

 The light sandy loam soil is easily worked and tractors and potato machinery 

 are easily used. The growing season of al)out 150 days is longer than in 

 Chesterfield but not quite as cool. 



Potatoes occupied 12 per cent of the average total crop acreage of 51 acres 

 per farm studied in Granby. As in Cliesterfield, the potato is a cash crop 

 which fits into a more or less regular rotation with the hay and forage crops 

 grown for dairy cows. In such rotations potatoes usually follow several years 

 of grass. 



Granby farms are favorably situated with respect to markets. It is only 

 about 8 miles to Holyoke. In 1926 most growers sold their potatoes to buyers 

 who came to the farm. 



I'lie Concord Area. 



The potato crop in Concord supplements dairying on some farms, and on 

 others is only one of several market garden crops and competes with them 

 for the time and resources of the farmer. Both Cobblers and Green Moun- 

 tains are grown for the Boston market about 18 miles away. 



The elevation runs from 120 to 160 feet. The fields are very level and 

 there are few stones, thus facilitating the use of machinery. The soil under 

 the careful treatment given by the growers produces high yields. 



Potatoes occupied 13.5 per cent of the crop land on the farms studied in 

 the Concord area, as compared with 4.7 per cent^ for all farms in the area. 

 This area differs greatly from Chesterfield and Granby in the high percentage 

 of crop land in other vegetable crops. Over 23 per cent of the crop land on 

 the farms studied was in other vegetables. The farmer in Concord, in de- 

 ciding how much land to put in potatoes or wliether to grow them at all, has 

 many alternatives to consider, as contrasted with the grower in Chesterfield 

 who has little choice of other cash crops. 



The Seekonk Area. 



The Seekonk area differs markedly from the others. Less than 100 feet 

 above tiie sea, the fields are level and the soil very light and sandy. Heavy 

 applications of commercial fertilizer produce high yields. The growing season 

 at Providence (atiout 12 miles from the area) is long, averaging 195 days for 

 the 10-year period 1917-1926. The annual precipitation is slightly less than 

 in the other areas. Cobblers are much more important in Seekonk, over two- 

 thirds of the potato acreage studied being in Cobblers. No doubt they are 

 better adapted to this area than to other parts of Massachusetts, but they 

 apparently yield only about three-fourths as much as Green Mountains where 

 grown on the same farms. 



Market garden crops are important in this locality as in Concord, and 

 potatoes are usually only one of many cash crops; although in some cases they 

 also supplement dairying. 



^United States Census of Agriculture, 1925. 



