6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 428 



Costs of clearing land with heavy machinery varied greatly depending upon 

 the type and density of timber, stump, or brush cover, the type of soil, the size 

 and adaptability of equipment used, the skill of the operator, and the purpose 

 for which the land was cleared. Records on costs and methods show that stump- 

 land has been cleared ready to plow for as little as $65 per acre and as much as 

 $180. Brush and trees have been cleared for $75 to $140 per acre and boulders 

 removed for $60 to $150 per acre. Stone walls were removed by burying or haul- 

 ing away for $6 and $9 per rod depending upon size of the wall and methods used. 

 Apple trees were removed from orchards for 25 to 45 cents per tree and usually 

 the value of cordwood cut moi-e than paid for the cost of removal and cutting. 

 Some drainage work has been done on individual farms but much of this land 

 improvement work will be done after Soil Conservation Districts are formed. 



Some examples have been noted of land clearing which could not be justified 

 on the economic returns from the land. Where a good type of soil is available in 

 the farm unit for the purpose desired, clearing with modern machinery may be 

 profitable in a period of high prices for farm products. Larger acreages can be 

 brought into production more rapidly by clearing with machinery to take ad- 

 vantage of these higher prices. 



Organization and Management of Poultry Farms in Massachusetts. (C. R. 



Creek.) Poultry farming was less profitable in 1944 than in 1943 according to 

 the summarj' of Poultry Account Records, chiefly because of lower prices re- 

 ceived for eggs and higher prices paid for feed. For the records summarized, 

 net farm income averaged $2350 per farm in 1944, $3660 per farm in 1943, and 

 $2388 in 1942. Labor income per hen was $2.13, $4.20, and $2.85 for an average 

 flock of 863,768, and 691 laying hens per farm. Egg production was 210 eggs 

 per hen in 1944, 196 in 1943, and 206 in 1942 and the average price for all eggs 

 sold was 47, 55, and 42 cents per dozen. 



In 1944 the net farm income was $4604 per farm for the one-third highest 

 income farms, which were chiefly breeder type farms, in contrast to $302 per 

 farm for the lowest one-third, which were wholesale egg type farms.The size of 

 laying flock was 1280 and 480 hens on these two groups of farms, while total size 

 of the farm business was 690 and 250 productive man work ilYiits. Egg produc- 

 tion was 216 and 189 eggs per hen and the average price received was 49.7 and 

 43.5 cents per dozen. The cost of feed per dozen eggs produced was 23.3 cents 

 on the profitable farms and 29.7 cents on the low income farms. The margin of 

 price received for eggs over cost of feed was 26.4 and 13.8 cents per dozen. It 

 required 83 eggs at prices received to purchase 100 pounds of grain on the higher 

 income farms and 97 eggs on the lower income group. A greater quantity of 

 grain was fed per laying hen on the low income farms than on the more profitable 

 farms and a higher price was paid per hundredweight. All of these factors of 

 size, rate of production, prices received, feeding efficiency, and type of business 

 were jointl}' responsible for the wide variation in returns from the farm business 

 in these two groups. 



A comparison of 15 identical poultry farm accounts for 1942, 1943, and 1944 

 showed that size of flock increased 16 percent from 819 to 953 hens. Egg pro- 

 duction dropped 5 percent in 1943 to 200 eggs per hen but the price received was 

 56 cents per dozen which was 30 percent greater than in 1942. Feed cost per 

 dozen eggs was 30 percent greater in the latter two years also, while the price 

 received for eggs in 1944 was only 11 percent more than in 1942. The egg-feed 

 ratio was most favorable in 1943 when 5.5 dozens of eggs were required to pur- 

 chase 100 pounds of mash and scratch grain. The cost of hired labor on these 

 farms increased 56 percent in these three years from $60 to $94 per month. Total 

 labor cost, which included the value of the operator's time and family labor as 



