6 N. H. Agri. Experiment Station [Bulletin 284 



the cows owned, exclusive of young stock, most of which were pastured off 

 the farm. The value of pasture supplements was $276 per farm or $13.33 

 per cattle unit owned. There was no apparent tendency for farmers who 

 were short of good pasture to raise fewer heifers than farmers with more 

 adequate pasture. {H. C. Griiiiicll — PnriicU Fund.) 



Land Utilization in Grafton County 



The belief that submarginal farms in the back towns of the state are 

 being operated largely by old men is not borne out by a survey of 577 occu- 

 pied places in the Grafton county area chosen for a study of land economic 

 problems reports H. C. Woodworth of the University of New Hampshire 

 Experiment Station. Slightly over 50 per cent of the operators were men 

 under 50 years of age, and the survey indicates that many men in the prime 

 of life are living on these farms which, in a great many cases, are not capable 

 of efficient operation. Only 25 per cent of the operators were over 60 years 

 of age, and the older men on the whole seemed to be doing as much farming 

 as the younger men. Only in a few instances is the occupancy of the farms 

 a deliberate step in old-age retirement. 



It has been often assumed that in the process of agricultural abandon- 

 ment the original owner persisted and that the operators of the farms are 

 native to the region. From 388 records where figures as to years of occu- 

 pancy are available, however, it was found that 21 per cent had lived on the 

 farm for less than two years. The depression has brought many families 

 into the region. Only 16 per cent had lived on the farm over 30 years. 



The summary of the records indicates that farms in the area are operated 

 mostly as self-sufficing units, and that from a commercial viewpoint agri- 

 culture is not important. 



Farms Sorted by Gross Receipts from Sale of Agricultural 



577 100.0 



Forty-five per cent of the farms sell less than $50 worth of agricultural 

 products i)er year, and only 21 per cent sell over $500 worth per year. On 

 the other hand, the operators on most farms in the area are dependent upon 

 outside work for most of their cash expenses. 



In Grou]) T out of a total of $334 gross receipts. $8 was from sale of agri- 

 cultural products, $12 from sale of ffirest products, $236 from outside work 

 and $78 was from gifts, pensions, and money taken from former savings. 

 The returns from outside work make up about 70 per cent of the total re- 

 ceipts. Part of this was in the nature of unemployment relief work. All of 

 the $78 from gifts, pensions, etc., would have come to the recipients no mat- 

 ter where they lived. 



