20 



UNIV. OF N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION 



[Bulletin 222 



present by producing cash crops. While we may expect cabbage to 

 fluctuate greatly in price, on the general dairy farm a small acreage could 

 always be utilized as feed in a bad price year, thus eliminating the chance 

 of complete failure due to price. 



Very little data on cost of producing cabbage in New Hampshire is 

 available, and any detailed discussion as to the costs or margins of profit 

 even on good farms will have to await further study. The greatest 

 opportunity in supplying the present demand would seem to be in the 

 northern districts 1, 2 and 3. The early cabbage demand in the White 

 Mountains and the late cabbage demand in Berlin may offer opportunities 

 to a few farmers favorably situated. 



DRY BEANS 



The purchase of dry beans from local farmers as shown in Table V is 

 insignificant. Of the nearly 40,000 hundred-pound sacks of beans pur- 

 chased in the state, only 815 were produced locally. The 39,000 remain- 

 ing sacks of beans, or 65,350 bushels, is equivalent to the production from 

 4,350 acres with a yield of 15 bushels per acre. Expressed in still a dif- 

 ferent way, about 100 carloads of dry beans from outside sources are re- 

 quired to supply the demand in our state. 



Most of the dry beans received were produced in New York, Michigan 

 or California. Bean production on a commercial scale has shifted to 

 rather definite areas where the climatic conditions are especially favorable. 

 Probably our climate is much too damp and cool at harvest time, and 

 production on a large scale would involve much hand work in drying and 

 curing vines. In very favorable districts like western New York, bean 

 production with machinery requires only about 35 hours of man labor per 



Table V — Dry beans, dry onions, squash, and sweet corn — purchased by retail stores, hotels and 



camps from farmers and from others 



acre. And since a product like beans can be stored and shipped in car- 

 loads very cheaply, it is doubtful if we can expect to meet the market de- 

 mand by local production. However, a few men have been very success- 

 ful in producing a small acreage of beans, by using a large area of barn 

 space in drying and curing the vines. 



It is of interest to note that the per capita consumption of beans as 

 indicated by store purchases is very large, being for the state as a whole 

 nearly 10 pounds. Berlin stores handled 1,578 cwt. or 10 pounds per 



