24 N. H. Agr. Experiment Station [Bulletin 275 



It was evident, however, that outside buyers were more interested in 

 the few herds where considerable progress had been made in breeding 

 and growing out quality stock. Seven of the 13 herds with high net 

 income from stock had maintained the same breed of cattle with a 

 pure bred sire for an average of 14 years. Ten operators of this group 

 fed grain in addition to roughage to calves and young stock, and the 

 heifers were of fair size and condition at freshening time. On the 

 other hand, 9 of the 12 operators in the group with low income from 

 stock did not feed grain to young stock, and the heifers tended to be 

 undersi»ed at freshening time. 



Skill 



From calf raising through to selling the cows, differences in skill were 

 veiy apparent. About one-fourth of the operators have an inherent 

 liking for dairy stock. They tend to raise only the more promising 

 heifers, and since they are observing and know how to feed, the ani- 

 mals sold are usually good cows. On the other hand, about one-fourth 

 showed lack of skill and knowledge in raising heifers, and the cows 

 were not attractive to buyers. 



Income from livestock is important in Grafton County, and on most 

 farms the production of more heifers than actually needed for replace- 

 ment can be fitted into the organization. 



To take full advantage of the opportunity of marketing sound cows, 

 even those who have been successful in disposing of stock will proba- 

 bly need to put increasing stress on the health and quality of their 

 herds. This will require a definite breeding plan and an intelligent 

 and thorough program to protect the herd from disease. The men 

 who have been handicapped in selling cows on account of disease or 

 lack of quality, may well consider beginning the long and exacting yet 

 interesting program of building a better and healthier herd. It can 

 be done without large outlay of money. 



Those raising additional heifers should of course have in mind that 

 the value of cows when heifers are started is no indication of what 

 the value will be when the animals are mature. 



VARIATIONS IN ROUGHAGE 



The lack of a well-planned roughage production program is a real 

 weakness in the organization of most of the dairy farms and repre- 

 sents a considerable handicap to individual operators. As the farm 

 community developed into a specialized intensive wholesale milk area, 

 the cropping system on the individual fanns tended to remain un- 

 changed. Approximately 21 of the 38 farms have made some progress 

 in late years, but only four approached the possibilities of a cropping 

 plan to meet the needs of intensive dairying. 



In order to study the roughage situation in detail, maps of tillage 

 land were made for each farm. Just before haying, each field was ex- 

 amined to determine the approximate yield, the kind of grass, and per- 

 centage of clover. The estimated average yield of all hay land was 

 1.47 tons per acre, and individual fields ranged from three-quarters to 

 two and one-half tons per acre. The soil varied from a light intervale 

 to heavy clay entirely unsuited for corn, but the differences in yield 



