4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 363 



producers shifting from retail to wholesale selling. In January 1935, 119 pro- 

 ducers were selling milk at wholesale in the area ; in May, 105 ; and in December, 96. 



That only 18 percent of the dairy farms in the section are recorded as having 

 sold milk in the marketing area is no unfavorable reflection on the adequacy of 

 the data. The Connecticut farms included in the group are a negligible propor- 

 tion of the total in the Connecticut towns, being only 4.3 percent. Most of the 

 farms selling milk in these towns contract, in all probability, with Hartford or 

 local dealers. Of the Massachusetts farms, 38.7 percent sold in the Springfield 

 area. The balance of the farms probably kept a cow or two to supply the farm 

 needs and sold little or no milk. Two general factors lead to this conclusion. 



The first is the very noticeable variation among the three Massachusetts towns 

 in the proportion of farms recorded as selling milk, and the second is the average 

 number of cows per farm in these towns. The detailed relationships are shown 

 in Table 1. Of the three towns it is evident that Southwick is the dairy town. 

 Agawam, adjacent to the river, is a crop farming area and probably the home of 

 part-time farmers with occupations in Springfield. Both of these factors would 

 be conducive to family cows rather than commercial herds. Southwick, to the 

 west, although a crop farming town, is rolling country, very suitable to grass and 

 forage crops and cows. An indication of the commercial importance of dairying 

 in Southwick is the proportion of farms selling milk and the relatively high 

 number of cows per farm. Practically 60 percent of the farms sold milk in the 

 area and the average number of cows milked per farm was eight. Granville, to 

 the west beyond Southwick, is a New England hill town. Natural conditions 

 would tend to keep the number and size of dairy herds low. The small proportion 

 of these farms recorded as selling milk in the Springfield area is due in part to the 

 fact that no data were available on some of them, and in part to the fact that 

 many of the cows were undoubtedly kept to supply home requirements. Gran- 

 ville, it might be noted, had the smallest number of cows and heifers per farm. 



Table 1. — Number and Percentage of Dairy Farms in the Section, 

 Shipping Milk to the Springfield Market Area, 1935. 



*U. S. Census, 1935. 



