2170 Farm Bureau Circular No. 6 



Three hundred and ninety-five farmers have been visited on their farms, 

 and the manager has received 400 calls from farmers at his office. 



Twenty-eight farmers' meetings have been addressed, with a total 

 attendance of 4250 persons. 



Thirty agricultural articles have been furnished to, and published by, 

 the papers of the county. 



Five hundred and twenty-five personal letters of information have been 

 sent out to the farmers, besides 4200 letters of general information. These 

 letters were written on the following subjects: early spraying of apple 

 blossom buds to control scab; late spraying of apples to control fungus 

 on fruit; notice of apple demonstration train; treatment of seed wheat for 

 smut; rural credits through the land bank; potato seed selection. 



The farm bureau has been able to secure for the county three stops of 

 demonstration trains that were not on their original schedules. Probably 

 700 farmers made use of these opportunities to visit the trains. 



Following consultations with the farm bureau manager, 100 tons of 

 fertilizer have been applied to various crops ; 40 tons of fertilizer have been 

 mixed at home for special crop production; several hundred tons of lime 

 have been used. 



Through the farm bureau the farmers of Niagara County have been able 

 to secure lime in carload lots at a reduction of 25 cents per ton. 



For general farm crops, it has been found that on the heavier types of 

 soil fertilizers with a large percentage of available phosphoric acid give 

 better returns than fertilizers containing a correspondingly high percent- 

 age of potash. Contrary to the belief of many persons, it has also been 

 found that many of the soils south of the escarpment are deficient in lime, 

 especially for growing alfalfa. 



Many questions have been answered from the farm bureau office re- 

 garding the packing and marketing of fruit and farm products, the treat- 

 ment of seed oats and seed wheat, the pruning and spraying of orchards, 

 the control of the army worm, spraying to control weeds, drainage, and 

 the like. 



Last fall potato growers who selected their seed potatoes the year before 

 by the hill method, according to the farm bureavi manager's advice, 

 reported an increased yield. One grower reported such an increase of 

 50 bushels per acre. 



Several old orchards, which had been neglected and had the reputation 

 of not being able to produce marketable fniit, have been cared for during 

 this season under the direction of the farm bureau manager; the owner of 

 one of these reports the sale of about 1800 barrels of grade " A " apples. 

 This shows that with care many of the poorer orchards of the county can 

 be brought into profitable bearing. 



Through a petition started by the farm bureau manager, from 40 to 

 50 mature oak trees from 100 to 200 years of age, which had been condemned 

 by the road department in the construction of the Million Dollar Highway 

 through Niagara County, were saved. Only one, which stood in the middle 

 of the highway, was removed; the road was built about many of the others. 

 While this is not a matter of economic importance to the community, it 

 is of a great aesthetic value. Many farmers expressed the opinion that, 

 while they were anxious to have the road, they would prefer not to have 



