possible. If this is the case, then it is expected that the extent of out-migration 

 will about equal the rate of the excess of births over deaths beyond replace- 

 ment needs. 



Whatever the case, the apparent interrelationships of these three vari- 

 ables, number of farms, size of farm, and value of farm property, tends 

 toward some sort of equilibrium and this trend appears to be correlative 

 with the phenomenon of migration. 



Type of Farming 



The two major agricultural enterprises in New Hampshire are poultry and 

 dairy. One explanation of the variation in farm size between the sample 

 of increasing and decreasing towns might be difference in specialization in 

 these forms of agriculture. To examine the possibility, the number of 

 chickens four months old and over on hand were compared for the years 

 1920, 1930, 1935, 1940, and 1945 between the sample of increasing and 

 decreasing towns. See Table 14. 



Table 14. Number and Percent Change Chickens Four Months Old and Over by Town 1920, 



1930, 1935, 1940 and 1945 



Source: New Hampshire Agricultural Census, 1920. Federal Farm Census, Bureau of 

 Census, 1930, 1935, 1940, 1945. 



While both samples show an increase in the number of chickens on hand, 

 the rate of increase has been greater in the increasing towns and the differ- 

 ences in numbers between the samples has become progressively larger. 

 This does not necessarily mean that the farms in the increasing towns are 



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