24 



l'.\i\ERSiTY OF New Hampsiiiue 



[Sta. Ikill. 32-' 



MAN HOURS 

 400 



LEG END 



[] POTATOES 



HARVESTING OATS <"'■' BARLEY 



MAP.l APR.I MAY I JUN, 1 JUL. I AUG.I SEP. lOCT. INOV. I DEC, 



Figure 12. Labor requirements by ten-day periods on a farm with 16 



cows and 5 acres of potatoes. 



tion become handicaps to the most efficient production. Farm oper- 

 ators have had to organize their Inisinesses on the basis of land un- 

 der their control and are continually adjusting- themselves to chang- 

 ing conditions by new combinations of crops with high and low labor 

 requirements, and by varying the intensity of management on each 

 crop. Thus it is not unusual to find in the same community one 

 farmer carrying on a too intensive management and another farmer 

 too extensive management for best results, yet each operator has 

 the best possible organization considering the land area under his 

 control. Therefore, in studying possible long-time adjustments in 

 this area, attention should be given to the possibility of changing 

 boundary lines and revamping farm areas instead of taking for 

 granted the present pattern of ownership or type of agriculture. 



There were in this group of 38 farms several operators who were 

 definitely handicajjpcd by small tillage areas. Twelve had less than 

 40 acres of cropland. A few had larger woodland areas than needed 

 to use available labor effectively, while many others had only small 

 ASdodlots. Sc)me farmers had i)ractically no woodland resources on 

 which to use available labor and etjuipment in the winter months. 



Present tillage areas are generally somewhat scattered and most 

 of the land area not now in tillage is too rough or rocky to be con- 

 sidered as potential tillage under present price situations. 



