34 



N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Sta. Bull. 273 



the study. It seems to have possibilities, at least on the larger farms 

 where silage is also grown, and deserves some studv to determine its 

 adaptability. 



All these haying operations are also influenced by the area in hay. 

 On those farms where less than 50 tons of hay are raised, labor per unit 

 in all harvesting operations is greater than where more than 50 tons 

 are grown. When more hay is to be handled, methods must be im- 

 proved in order to harvest it in the best possible condition. Consider- 

 ing the operations, raking, curing, loading, hauling and unloading, as 

 shown in Table 30. a saving of 1.25 hours per ton is shown in favor of 

 the larger amount of hay. 



The rate at wliich the haying operations are done depends more 

 on total amount of hay than on size of field. Size of field in most sec- 

 tions of New Hampshire is a matter of topography rather than size of 

 farm. Many large farms are cut up into smaller fields, yet in their hay- 

 ing operations these farms carry on more efficiently than the smaller 

 ones. On these larger farms with a lot of work to do, much can be and 

 is done even on small fields. On small farms with less to do the tend- 

 ency is to let the work drag, taking as long to care for 25 acres on the 

 small farm as for 40 acres on the larger farm. The data show savings 

 in labor of 5.5 hours per acre or two hours per ton on the larger farms. 



When the influence of size of field is eliminated by taking farms 

 with the same acreage per field but with more fields there is still a 

 marked difference in labor used, those farms with the smaller area in 

 hay using 1.6 hours more time per ton for harvesting. 



SUMMARY 



When silage was included in the roughage-production program, 

 the most important advantage was in providing a greater amount of 

 roughage for an increased dairy herd. An increase from five acres to 

 6.5 or seven acres of silage permitted the addition of five cows to the 

 herd without increase in total roughage area. If no increase in num- 

 ber of cows was desired a smaller area of land than that in hay alone 

 would provide the necessary roughage, releasing land either for cash 

 crops or pasture. 



Silage production extended the roughage harvest into the fall re- 

 ducing the peak labor load during hay harvest as a result of the smaller 

 area in hay. The five or six acres necessary to produce 60 tons of sil- 

 age will release 12 to 13 acres from hay production. 



The better labor distribution with silage makes it possible for the 

 regular labor to handle the extended roughage harvest with the mini- 

 mum of extra hired help. 



Permanent hay alone limited stock carrying capacity, created dif- 

 ficult labor peaks at harvest, resulted in lower quality of hay, and in- 

 creased management costs. 



The inclusion of some annual hay crop provided a more satisfac- 

 tory roughage. This furnished the means of more frequent reseeding 

 to permanent hay, improved the quality of the resulting hay both 

 through legumes in the annual hay and more legumes in the permanent 

 hay crop, and reduced the amount of hired labor needed for hay har- 

 vest by extending the harvest period. 



