LAND UTILIZATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 



19 



Crop and Livestock Production 



Agricultural production was centered on the commercial and part- 

 time farms. More than half of the nonfarm households reported a small 

 garden, a few hens, or a pig, to satisfy family needs, but these enterprises 

 in no case required more than a half hour of attention per day through- 

 out the year. 



Agricultural enterprises on part-time and commercial farms were 

 centered chiefly about livestock production. Milk, cream, butter, and 

 eggs accounted for the bulk of agricultural income, and fowl, beef cattle, 

 sheep, and other livestock sales were the chief supplementary sources. 

 Agricultural production was most concentrated in Sanbornton, where 

 farm enterprises were largest, and dependence upon dairy cows greatest. 

 Several large poultry farms and a specialized vegetable farm supplement- 

 ed the dairy industry in Francestown. Tuftonboro farms were smaller 

 and more diversified than those in the other two towns (Table 2). 



Table 2. Distribution of gross agricultural income 

 by type of product and market outlet 



Item 



Francestown Sanbornton Tuftonboro 



Gross agricultural income 



$72,514 



$82,370 



$33,163 



Per cent from : 



Livestock products 



Livestock 



Crops 



Per cent sold : 

 Wholesale 

 Retail delivery 

 Retail at farm 



Although dairying was the primary agricultural enterprise in all 

 towns, dairy herds were relatively small. All but one of the part-time 

 farms, and more than half of the commercial farms had herds of five cows 

 or less, and only three herds had more than 20 cows. Two-thirds of the 

 farms reported some poultry, but only 25 flocks were larger than 100 

 birds. The five largest commercial poultry farms, all located in Frances- 

 town, had flocks ranging from 1.000 to 9.000 birds. More than half of 

 the farms had horses ; one-quarter reported hogs. A large flock of 

 turkeys and five herds of beef cattle were the only other livestock of 

 commercial significance. 



Two-thirds of all agricultural products were marketed through 

 wholesale channels, but retail sales were an important supplement on the 

 large farms and were the main source of income of many smaller farms, 

 especially in Tuftonboro. 



Tillage land was not intensively or aggressively managed. Part-time 

 farms contained an average of 15 acres of tillage land, and commercial 

 farms considerably more, averaging nearly 50 acres per farm in Sanborn- 

 ton. Nearly one-quarter of all open land contained no crops, and two- 

 thirds supported a hay crop only. Hay fields on the aggressively managed 

 commercial farms yielded two or three tons of high-quality roughage 

 per acre, but more generally the yields were a ton or less of run-out poor- 



