14 



N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Sta. Bull. 314 



Thus tliis expenditure of $20,236.27 (plus other administrative ex- 

 pense) has induced 664 operators to use 1,555 additional tons of lime; 

 reseed 638 additional acres of tillage land ; use 172 additional tons of 

 fertilizer on grass lands and pasture ; make 74 acres of additional seed- 

 ings in pasture ; improve 73 acres of additional woodland ; grow 15 

 acres more of green manure crops, and add 5 tons more of mulching to 

 orchards. 



It will be noted that only 29 per cent of the possible total allotments 

 was used in 1937 and that only 59 per cent of the total tillage land was 

 enrolled. An extension of the enrollment and participation to include 

 all active commercial farms and 10 per cent more of the less active com- 

 mercial farms would leave about 30 per cent of the allotment unused. 

 In this case about 30 per cent of the tillage land or 138,000 acres on a 

 state basis would not be in the program. This large acreage which 

 probably cannot be brought into the program is distributed in small 

 units on small subsistence or residence farms. Small crops of hay are 

 now harvested on this acreage and on the whole the only farm operation 

 undertaken, in addition to a vegetable garden, is hay harvest. 



Present Management of Tillage Land 



The data in this study furnish two criteria by which one may judge 

 the effect of present management of tillage land on the trend of aban- 

 donment of land as tillage. These are ratio of livestock to tillage and 

 per cent of land reseeded. 



Ratio of Livestock to Tillage Land 



Twenty-one per cent of the tillage area in the 12 towns was asso- 

 ciated with farms without livestock and thus no manure was distributed. 

 (Table 15; AVhile it may be possible to maintain the fertility through 



Table 9. Comparison of practices on 339 active commercial farms in 1935 

 and 1937, and on 286 of these farms enrolled in the program. 



I 

 I 



* Does not include new seeding in pastures. 

 t Includes all active commercial farms whether 

 program. 



or not enrolled in the 



