AN ECONOMIC STUDY OF DAIRYING 277 



and the average rainfall as 33.18 inches. About half of the rain, 15.61 

 inches, falls from April to August inclusive. Much of the summer rain- 

 fall comes in heavy showers which quickly run off, and drouths are some- 

 what frequent, so that pastures often need to be supplemented during 

 August and September. 



The average length of the growing season at Binghamton for the years 

 mentioned was 150 days. 2 The average date of the last killing frost in 

 the spring was May 6, and of the first killing frost in the fall October 3. 

 Altho there are no weather records for the uplands of this county, the grow- 

 ing season there averages from two to three weeks shorter. This makes 

 the pasture season shorter, and the frost injury to crops, particularly to 

 corn, more extensive, on the hills. . 



There are three types of farming common in Broome County general 

 farming, dairy farming, and trucking for the local markets. 



Most of the trucking is confined to the valleys near the principal towns, 

 while general and dairy farming is found both in the valleys and on the 

 hills. The farms on the Volusia soil are devoted primarily to the produc- 

 tion of forage crops and to dairying. On a few, potatoes are grown as 

 a cash crop, but in general the land is too poor and the season too short 

 to grow other intensive crops. The distance to market is much greater 

 from the farms on the uplands, and this factor also influences the type. 

 Everything considered, dairying is the best type of farming for the upland 

 conditions. 



According to the thirteenth census the average farm in the county in 

 1910 contained 102 acres. Of this, 35 acres were in crops exclusive of 

 fruit, 22 in woods, and 45 in pasture and other land. Of the crop land, 

 27 acres were in hay and forage. The other principal crops are corn, 

 oats, buckwheat, and potatoes. These crops are typical of the farms 

 studied. 



Altho Broome County may be considered a leading dairy county of the 

 State, many dairymen, especially those of the uplands, follow an extensive 

 system. An abundance of pasture, a short growing season, and a soil 

 that is not naturally fertile, encourage the summer system. The industry 

 never has been so intensively developed here as it has in the neighboring 

 counties of Delaware and Chenango, or in many other counties of the State. 

 This may be due mostly to less productive soil. 



During the past thirty years the system of dairying has become 

 increasingly more intensive. In 1880 there were 29,398 dairy cows two 

 years old or older on farms in the county, and 3,659,982 pounds of butter 

 made on farms. 3 In 1917 there were 27,029 dairy cows on 3027 farms 

 in the county, an average of 8.9 per farm reporting dairy cows. 4 The 



2 Climatological data, New York section, August, 1916, page 94. 



3 United States census report, 1880. 



4 Census of the agricultural resources of New York, 1917. 



