104. MASS. EXPKH1M?:NT station bulletin 275 



Tliere would tlicii Ix- .SJ:W iirt'ntcr reduction iu receipts and that nnich 

 less advantaae for the new orjianization than under present prices. It might 

 he an open cpiestion whether it woidd tiien be worth while to make the change. 

 Changes in prices of grain and of cows would also have significant effects 

 on the results. Much depends on the accuracy with which estimates of these 

 factors can be made. Mr. 1? believes that his estimates are sufficiently con- 

 servative to make the change worth while, and plans to shift over to the new 

 sy.stem as rai)idly as possible. 



FARM C— A LARGE DAIRY-FRUIT FARM 



A farm with lOOO bearing apple trees and 21 dairy cows is clearly a much 

 larger unit than either of the two preceding farms. The problem of efficient 

 use of labor is of much greater hnportance on such a farm. Labor may be 

 made more eificient through the use of machinery and equipment, but labor- 

 saving plans are often more important than machinery. Methods of doing- 

 work at the time and in the manner that counts for most ha\e been carefully 

 worked out on Farm C. 



The operator of Farm C is ably assisted by two grown sons, one of whom 

 is married and has his own house on the farm. Mr. C, himself, has reached 

 the age when many farmers think of retiring, but he retains the controlling 

 voice in the business affairs of the farm and works about half of the total 

 time during the year, putting in full time at periods of peak labor such as 

 apple harvest and less at other seasons. An extra man is hired for about six 

 months, and additional day labor is taken on during apple harvest and oc- 

 casionally at other times. The successful management of a farm of this type 

 recpiires a man of more than ordinary capacity and efliciency. ^Ir. C is for- 

 tunate in possessing these characteristics to a marked degree. 



The Farm Plan 



The details of the farm plan are slu)\\ n in Tables 11 and 12. These are the 

 actual acreages of crops and ninnbers of livestock on this farm in 1929. Notice 

 that there is a large non-bearing orchard and a considerable acreage of hay 

 and silage. During the year three acres of hay land were reseeded to alfalfa 

 and four acres of pasture were seeded with a sweet clo\er and pasture grass 

 mixture. The ])roduction and the nuiterials used on each crop are indicated 

 in Table 11. 



Ready mixed feeds constitute most of the grain fed to the livestock. The 

 amounts of hay and silage fed are greater than the amount produced during 

 the year. This is because of the unusually dry summer of 1929, which greatly 

 reduced the amount of i)asture feed and made it necessary to feed more 

 roughage in the barn during the late summer and early fall. Since good in- 

 ventories of both hay and silage were carried over from the ])revious year, 

 the emerjrencv was handled without serious trouble. 



