8 Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 337 



substantial outlet is the local school system. Wood is the prevailing 

 type of fuel used for heating the several country schools. 



A network of roads and railroads serve the area ; they are so laid 

 out that practically all farm woodland is accessible throughout the 

 entire year. In the past "drivable" streams were used to provide low- 

 cost transportation from producer to market. In recent years this 

 practice has been largely abandoned in favor of the truck. 



LABOR SITUATION 



It is evident from the records taken on the sample farms that 

 two types of adjustments are desirable if farmers are to use their 

 resources to the best advantage. 



The first, and possibly most important adjustment because it con- 

 cerns a larger group of people, has to do w^ith greater efficiency in the 

 use of labor already employed on certain operations. On the average, 

 farmers in the area are engaged from 20 to 60 days each year in har- 

 vesting the products of the forest. The number of man days devoted 

 to this enterprise on individual units varies, but the majority comes 

 within this range. Herein lies the best opportunity to increase farm 

 income through wiser use of the labor resource. The same amount 

 of time spent in a different manner when harvesting would go a long 

 way toward keeping the forest in a highly productive state. It is 

 also evident that greater efBciency in doing routine chores would free 

 some time for other employment. Chore time ranges from 87 to 285 

 man hours per cow per year" whereas requirements should not exceed 

 200 man hours per cow ])er year at the most. Although it is essential 

 to care for livestock properly there is a limit beyond which it will be 

 more profitable to utilize the additional time on other enterprises. 

 During the winter months this can usually be diverted to the wood- 

 land with excellent results. Few farmers have as yet practiced very 

 intensive forest management and as a consequence at least each of the 

 first few units of labor applied to the woodland will return relatively 

 high dividends. Whether these dividends will be realized imme- 

 diately or delayed depends largely upon the condition of the growing 

 stock at the time work is done. The manner in which the labor is 

 applied in either case will govern the rate of return per unit of input. 



The second type of adjustment is concerned with the need for 

 additional employment over and above that normally available. 

 Thirty-three percent of the farmers in the Colebrook area have free 

 time during the year which they desire to devote to some gainful en- 

 terprise. Nineteen percent of these people could use additional em- 

 ployment for 3 to 5 months and another 14 percent from 2 to 3 months 

 each year. The problem is most acute during the winter months. Be- 

 cause of the nature of the dairy enterprise, the length of the day would 

 be limited to about 6 hours. 



At the time they were interviewed the rest of the operators, or 

 67 percent, indicated they personally were not interested in additional 



* Woodworth, Harry C. and Hangas, Arno: Oims cit. 



