June, 1940] 



Farm Management in Colebrook 



27 



MAN HOURS 

 400 



Figure 14. Labor requirements by ten-day periods on a farm with 2i2 



cows and 15 acres of silage. 



probably decline with the draining off of young men by more attrac- 

 tive occupations elsewhere. 



The production of potatoes as a major enterprise ;\vithout live- 

 stock would not be very profitable because on most farms the nature 

 of the soil and the topography are handicaps to low cost production. 

 Thus in spite of only moderate returns from dairying, there is con- 

 siderable doubt if the community could continue in commercial aarri- 

 culture without the dairy cow. 



Assuming a share in the fluid milk market, dairying can be accept- 

 ed as the principal enterprise of the farms in the region, with pota- 

 toes, dairy replacements, and timber supplementary activities. 



In proportioning these enterprises to secure the highest income 

 combination, the individual farmer has evolved an organization on 

 the basis of trial and error. This is a good procedure except that 

 the extreme fluctuation in price of potatoes and the considerable 

 change in the price of milk in recent years has resulted in confusion. 

 This probably accounts for the lack of correlation between sizes of 

 herds and acres of potatoes. 



In the determination of the best combination of dairy and pota- 

 toes on a given farin, the net return per acre or net return per hour 

 of labor from each enterprise is of little value. Within certain lim- 



