4 



N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station 



[Sta. Bull. 273 



producing milk with less physical inconvenience by using hay and pur- 

 chased grain. The improved methods of handling silage which have 

 been quite generally adopted in recent years have made the task of 

 filling the silo less burdensome, and the price of milk no longer encour- 

 ages the purchase of additional grain to offset the lack in quality or 

 quantity of roughage. 



Sometimes in the past, this problem has been approached by add- 

 ing up all the possil)le costs of silage and hay, including use of land, 

 use of buildings, and labor of operator and hired men at assumed rates 

 per hour, and then making an arbitrary comparison of the costs of 

 equivalent feeding units of silage and hay. But decisions based on 

 such enterprise cost accounts are not sufficient and lead to erroneous 

 decisions. Many of the costs involved are not cash costs. The labor 

 and buildings may be present on the farm, horses may be idle, and 

 equipment may be available in the neighborhood. 



The most satisfactory way to determine what roughage or com- 

 binations of roughage to grow is to compare the probable results in 

 income or convenience. The best use of available labor, horses and 

 equipment may thus be considered, and adjustments made within the 

 organization to handle the new combination of roughage to the best 



Table 2. Number of farms, areas and amounts of roughage, stock and ma- 

 terials of the 281 farms included in the survey raising silage. 



Averages 

 Per farm Per acre 



Number of farms 281 



Acres hay 13403.7 



Tons hay 19445 



Acres silage 2097.4 



Tons silage 2457-5 



Number of cows 5937 



Numb?r of young stock 3693 

 Quarts seed corn — Silage 22659 



Sweet Corn 262 



Number of men 1549 



Number of harvesters 139 



Number of tractors 118 



Number of cutters 214 



Tons manure 16441.4 



Pounds of fertilizer 411395 



Hours of man labor 134006.5 

 Hay per cattle unit 

 Silage per cattle unit 

 Hours per ton 



5.53 



advantage. This can often be made by starting with the present or- 

 ganization and noting th(» effect any change may have on added cash 

 income and added cash expense. 



Figures on the farms having silage are shown in Table 2. The 

 farms averaged T.o acres of silage, equivalent to 11.9 per cent, of the 

 total tillable area. (52.9 acres. Yield was 11.6 tons per acre or 86.7 tons of 

 silage per farm. Tlie farms were somewhat larger than the average, 

 having 21 cows and 13.2 head of young stock. A part of this number, 



