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



real effort to build up the daiiy organization for more efficient pro- 

 duction. A few have the skill, interest and the incentive to grow crops 

 more and more efficiently and to develop and care for better cows. 

 Then, too, there is a great difference in the physical ability to work 

 due to health or age or other causes. 



Even this small group of 38 farms included a great diversity of per- 

 sonnel: the young man just getting underway, handicapped by inex- 

 perience and lack of capital, but energetic, skillful and interested; the 

 older man who has won his place with skill and energy over a period 

 of years but now finds it best to curtail somewhat his o^\ti physical 

 contribution; the keen, skillful, interested man in the prime of life who 

 thinks and lives his farm business; the man who does not consistently 

 set himself to work in production; and the man who has plenty of 

 energy and ambition but whose objective somehow is not clear and 

 whose labor is misdirected. These differences in personnel are reflected 

 in the output per man, production per cow and all the other factors. 



Knowledge of Farming 



The knowledge of farming of the 38 operators was above the aver- 

 age. Several were better informed than the actual results indicated, 

 since they were working under handicaps of poor health, insufficient 

 finances, or lack of complete control of the farm. However, there 

 were great variations. In roughly classifying the 38 operators, 17 were 

 considered as having a good knowledge of farming, 15 fair, and six 

 limited knowledge. 



Skill with Cows 



Some men seem to have an inherent skill with cows, although back- 

 ground and experience no doubt contribute to its development. The 

 handling of good stock kindles the interest of the man who really likes 

 cows, and this interest is an important factor. The abilitj' to care for 

 and jfeed cows to the best advantage requires far more skill, knowledge 

 and judgment than is generally' recognized. The highly' skilled men 

 in this group of famis liked cows, knew how to feed them economically, 

 observed them closely, and headed off serious trouble by quick action 

 on minor udder trouble or other ailments. Knowing good cows, they 

 were able to retain the better animals and build up better herds. Some 

 of the difference in production of cows on different farms is, no doubt, 

 traceable to unmeasurable differences in how operators care for and 

 manage them. 



In a very rough waj', the 38 operators may be grouped as to skill 

 with cows as follows: very skilled, 8; skilled, 12; fairly skilled, 8; 

 and those displaying little skill, 10. Of the men who have little skill, 

 it is thought that half of them would have been fairly skilled if they 

 had had the opportunity. There is nothing especially inspiring or 

 interest-kindling in caring for a herd of low producing poorly fed cows. 

 The man wlio has come uj) through this kind of a situation is likely 

 to have little interest in dairying even though circumstances keep him 

 on the farm. While one is always under the necessity of starting from 

 where he is there is still an opportunity for these men to become skilled 

 and interested dairymen through contact with good cows and skilled 



