HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



that they increase the growth of grass : sprays such as Scalecide, Arlington Oils, 

 and clover. To benefit the trees, how- | Red Engine oil, etc. used as a delayed 

 ever, the grass must be cut and left on ' dormant spray, are effective. (For com- 

 the ground or the sod turned under oc- plete list of sprays and pests send to the 

 casionally. , County Agent for Spray Bulletin.) 



STAFF 



Roland A. I*n}'ne, County Agent 

 Mildred W. Iloice, 



Home Denionstrntion Agent 

 IVorninn F. Wliippen, County Club Agent 

 Mnry DitnoiKl, Clerk 

 Mary Sullivan, As.st. Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9, 

 1915. at the Post Office at Northampton, 

 Massachusetts, under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



"Notice of Entry" 

 "Acceptance for mailingr at special rate 

 of postage provided for in section 1103, 

 Act of October 3, 1917. Authorized Oc- 

 tober 31, 1917. 



rriee, r»0 eent.H ji year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Charles E. Clark, President 

 Charles W. Wade, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Roland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 

 Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 

 W. H. Atkins, Amherst 



Fruit t;ro«er>* Meet 



Continued from p,ij,'e 1, column 3 



by July 1st. It is necessary to have a big 

 leaf area early in the spring if fruit buds 

 are to be formed. This means supplying 

 the trees with nitrogen early in the 

 spring. This can best be supplied in 

 Nitrate of Soda or Sulfate of Ammonia. 

 Except on very leachy, sandy soils, these 

 materials .should be put on just as soon 

 as the frost is out of the ground. The 

 reason that old orchards in sod do not 

 bear better crops is that there is not 

 enough nitrogen available to set fruit 

 buds. About 300 lbs. of nitrate of soda 

 or its equivalent in sulfate of ammonia 

 should be u.sed per acre. In one experi- 

 ment at Amherst, 5, 10 and 15 lbs. of 

 nitrate of soda per tree was used. In the 

 block receiving 15 lbs. per tree, a barrel 

 of apples more per tree was produced 

 than on the block getting 10 lbs. The 

 cost of this extra barrel of apples was 60 

 cents. 



Experiments have never shown that 

 phosphorous makes the trees bear more or 

 grow faster. Only on abnormal, sandy 

 soils has potash shown any results on 

 apple trees. In sod orchards phosphoi-ous 

 and potash have an indirect benefit in 



I'he Spray Program 



Professor R. A. Van Meter stated that 

 too many fruit growers were asking the 

 impossible of their spraying operations. 

 He advised fruit growers to fertilize their 

 orchards so as to have something to spray. 

 Then, before desired results can be ob- 

 tained, the trees must be pruned to admit 

 light to the fruit spurs and to open up 

 the tree so that the spray can reach all 

 parts of the tree. In some orchards 

 where the trees are too close some of the 

 trees should be taken out. 



One of the main reasons why .spray- 

 ing does not get desired results is that the 

 job is not done thoioughly. The spray 

 rig should be tuned up so that it runs 

 perfectly. The discs in the nozzles or 

 guns should be renewed to get the right 

 sized hole so that a mist can be formed 

 without forcing the engine. To get pro- 

 tection from insects and fungus diseases, 

 both sides of the leaves must be covered. 

 All the talk about speed in spraying and 

 dusting has caused too much poor work. 

 Better results from both methods can be 

 obtained if time enough is taken to do a 

 thorough job. In sections where apple 

 scab has been bad, a thorough job of 

 spraying has to be done to control this 

 disease. In these sections this has result- 

 ed in better control of other troubles. It 

 is important to be sure that sprays are 

 put on at the right time. 



Lack of thoroughness in spraying has 

 caused many fruit growers to lose confi- 

 dence in standard spray materials. Many 

 have used stronger materials and have 

 burnt foliage and fruit without getting 

 any better results. Others have turned 

 to new materials with no better results. 

 Of all the new materials brought out in 

 the last few years. Casein Spreaders 

 alone have demonstrated their value. 

 Stick to oil sprays, lime sulfur, nicotine 

 preparations, arsenate of lead and case- 

 in spreaders and, if you do a thorough job 

 of spraying, you can get control of in- 

 sects and fungus diseases. 



It is impossible to tell each fruit grow- 

 er just how many times he must spray 

 to grow good fruit. Each grower must 

 know just what troubles he has to combat 

 and then make his own program to fit his 

 needs. Three sprays well put on will do 

 better than five or .six that are just 

 "squirted on." 



Red Mite is a new insect in this county 

 and is usually bad on Baldwins. It can 

 be found on twigs at this time of year and 

 gives a reddi.sh appearance. In the spring, 

 it makes pin points of red on the leaves. 

 Later the leaves turn brown. When Leaf 

 Hoppers are present the leaves take on 

 a dusty appearance in the summer. Oil 



I How Nashoba Apples Are JVlarketed 



Manager Fred Cole of the Nashoba 

 ; Fruit Packing Association told how Na- 

 i shoba apples topped the Boston Market in 

 1924. He stated that 35 men within a 

 radius of 15 miles pooled their fruit this 

 past year. To finance the organization, 

 each member furnished $100 in cash and 

 signed a note to meet emergencies. The 

 ' notes never had to be used. All fruit is 

 pooled and title to it is given the Associa- 

 tion upon delivery. The fruit was packed 

 according to the State law, using the def- 

 initions as recommended by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The A grade was 

 given the trade name of "Nashoba." Ap- 

 I pies, to be put in this grade, had to be 

 practically free from scab, bruises and in- 

 ; sect injury. According to the definition of 

 "practically free" this allowed scab spots 

 up to 1/8 of an inch in diameter and cur- 

 culio spots up to 1/4 inch in diameter. 

 The B grade or, as they trade marked 

 them, "Domestic," could have up to 1/4 

 inch scab spots. Their third grade they 

 called "Cookers." In this grade all 

 wormy and cider apples were taken out. 

 In other words, they packed a good, uni- 

 form state grade of apples which anyone 

 can use. 



The Cutler graders are used, which 

 size the apples within 14 inch. Eight 

 sizes from 2* inches up were made. The 

 bulk of the apples were packed in the 

 Massachusetts standard bushel box, using 

 a riser, three slats on the top and cor- 

 rugated paper on both top and bottom. 

 I All of the "Nashoba" grade apples were 

 I wrapped. It was found that by wrap- 

 ( ing each apple, the packers could work 

 I faster. Before ^Tapping apples a man 

 I would pack up to 50 bushels per day. 

 I After wrapping was started, records as 

 I high as 110 bushels per day were made, 

 I or about one box in three minutes. The 

 ! boxes are packed with a bulge as they 

 I found that a full package is the one that 

 I sells. 



I It was found that the Association could 

 pack as cheaply as the growers them- 

 selves. The actual packing cost from 5 

 to 7 cents per box. The wrappers for the 

 apples added 10 cents per box. Over- 

 head expenses amounted to about 18 cents 

 per box. 



All of the fruit was sold through one 

 commission firm in Boston. By having a 

 constant supply of apples on the market 

 from September to the pre.sent time and 

 by having an absolutely uniform pack, 

 they found that these apples brought 

 from 25 to 50 cents more per bushel than 

 other fruit of similar quality. Another 

 great advantage was that their fruit sold 



Continued on page 10, column 1 



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