20 UNIV. OF N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 217 



The cropping system in Cheshire County is Hkely to remain the same 

 even with increased prices of farm products because of the large amount 

 of labor required in the production of grain crops on most farms. The 

 small, irregular-shaped fields make the extensive use of large machinery 

 impossible, and an increase of 15 or 20 cents per bushel in corn prices 

 would have little effect on a farmer's income with only four or five acres. 

 Increased supplies of feed crops would, therefore, probably be furnished 

 by a more intensive cultivation of the present surplus-producing areas. 

 Higher prices for milk and eggs would not necessarily increase the advan- 

 tage of New England in supplying its markets, because feed costs would 

 be correspondingly higher and the margin of profit might not be any 

 greater. 



The alternative to the cultivation of Cheshire County farms is timber 

 production, and the prices of this crop can be expected to increase faster 

 than prices of farm products because of the increasing distance to a rap- 

 idly decreasing supply. The advantage of abandonment of farms to the 

 production of timber can be expected to become greater than at present, 

 and with the more intensive cultivation of land those areas which are not 

 adapted to the efficient production of field crops will be used for timber. 



Types of Farming. 



The period of transition through which Cheshire County is going makes 

 it important to distinguish between the three distinct types of farm 

 operators there: first, those entirely dependent on farming as a source of 

 income; second, those working in mills and factories and living on the 

 farm; and third, those who have really retired on the farm. 



The encouragement of agricultural enterprises on those farms entirely 

 dependent on farming as a source of income must be on a very different 

 basis from that of the other two. The costs of production on these farms 

 must in the long run be less than the returns. 



Those farm residents, however, who obtain most of their income from 

 outside work may find increased production of milk, poultry or garden 

 advisable even though it would not be profitable on the first type of farm. 



Many of the third class of farmers are living on farms that will be 

 abandoned as soon as the present ownei-s are gone. The land may return 

 a very low income, but as long as these men operate it, they should be 

 given every help in increasing their income from it. 



