IS 



V. lo-/ 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. X. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JANUARY, 1925 



No. 1 



FARM PRODUCTS PRICE 

 SPREADS ARE STUDIED 



Cost of Distribution Big Factor in Widen- 

 ing Prices Between Farmer 

 and Consumer 



The great spread between the prices 

 the farmer gets for his products and the 

 prices paid for the same goods by the ulti- 

 mate consumer has been made an object 

 of study by the department. In studies 

 already completed the department finds 

 that the various explanations customarily 

 given for this spread in prices are mostly 

 incorrect because they are founded on 

 unreliable data. It is often charged that 

 this margin between the prices paid to 

 fanners and prices exacted from con- 

 sumers largely represents an unfair prof- 

 it taken by distributing agencies. The 

 studies made by the depai tment, however, 

 have shown that net profits taken by so- 

 called middlemen are an insignificant part 

 of the total .spread, that such profits sel- 

 dom amount to more than 5 per cent of 

 the price the consumer pays, and general- 

 ly they are less than 5 per cent of it. 



It is the cost of furnishing distributing 

 service, the studies show, rather than the 

 profit taken by the distributors, that wi- 

 dens the spread between producers' and 

 consumers' prices. Distribution costs, as 

 a matter of fact, generally account for 

 about 95 per cent of the spread. This 

 has been demonstrated by investigations 

 which the department has made to deter- 

 mine what portion of the retail price ac- 

 crues to each agency in the marketing 

 chain in the case of several important 

 commodities. It has been shown that 

 service costs incurred in the distribution 

 process affect consumers' prices much 

 more than those prices are affected by 

 fluctuations in the farm value of agricul- 

 tural products. 



A Typical Illustration 



A study recently made into the margins 

 and costs of the marketing of apples 

 grown in the State of Washington affords 

 a typical illustration of what makes the 

 farmer get so much less for his products 

 than the consumer pays. 



This study was based on data collected 

 from 13 fruit-shipping associations in the 

 State of Washington whose boxed apples 

 Continued on page 8, column 1 



HAMPSHIRE AGAIN WINS 



AT BOSTON 



16 Teams in Contest 

 Boys to New York 



Again the Hampshire County Poultry 

 team has won the state championship. 

 They went to Boston on December 3ist 

 and entered the contest on January 1st 

 against 16 teams coming from all over 

 Massachusetts. A new group of boys 

 were on the team this year. None of 

 them had judged in Boston before. The 

 team was composed of Lewis West of 

 Hadley, Horace Babb of Hadley and 

 Herman Andrews of Southampton. 

 These boys were picked because of the 

 superior judging at previous contests in 

 the county this year. The scores won by 

 the boys were as follows: 



Lewis West 390 



Horace Babb 42-5 



Herman Andrews 395 



Total 1,210 



The next nearest team made a score of 

 1,125. 



Next this team will judge at Madison 

 Square Garden in New York City on 

 .January 24th. Here they will compete 

 against four states. 



For three years in succession Hamp- 

 shire County has come out on top at the 

 Boston Judging Contest and each year 

 has sent the state team to New Yoi-k 

 City. Hampshire County folks must 

 realize that they won against heavy com- 

 petition and that the skill our boys show 

 in state judging contests is remarkable. 

 It is no small honor to represent the state 

 of Massachusetts at New York City and 

 win from 3000 or more club members 

 such a reward. 



These boys will go to Madison Square 

 Garden to win and it will take a mighty 

 good team to beat them. 



WANTED 



50 dairy farmers to study their farm 

 business. We will furnish account books, 

 help take the inventory and start the ac- 

 counts right. We guarantee to call at 

 your farm at least four times during the 

 year to keep the accounts straight. May 

 we put you down for this work? 



RAISING EASTER BROILERS 



Information Applies to All barly 

 • Hatched Chicks 



Since chicks may now be successfully 

 reared in-doors, a new and profitable en- 

 terprise is made possible — the raising of 

 broilers for the Easter market. During 

 the past year a number of alert poultry 

 keepers took advantage of this new op- 

 portunity and realized satisfactory pro- 

 fits. 



Easter broilers command a high price, 

 often 75 cents a pound, because they are 

 pi'oduced out of season when all the op- 

 erations attending their production are 

 rendered more difficult and expensive 

 than during the spring and summer 

 months. Hatching eggs are scarce and 

 high priced in January and February and 

 they are likely to be of low fertility and 

 hatchahility. Brooding chicks in Febru 

 ary and March requires extra care and 

 expense. 



When to hatch chicks for Easter broi- 

 lers. — It requires 8 to 10 weeks to grow 

 broilers so they will average IJ to 2 

 pounds, the weight that seems to be de- 

 sired on the market. To meet this re- 

 quirement, chicks for Easter broilers in 

 1925 would have to be hatched between 

 the first and fifteenth of February, since 

 Easter comes on April 12. This would 

 mean setting the eggs between January 

 11 and 25, which would necessitate ma- 

 ting the breeders about December 1 and 

 beginning to collect the eggs for hatch- 

 ing early in January. No eggs should be 

 set which are moie than 10 or 12 days 

 old. The fresher the eggs the better they 

 should hatch. The eggs for hatching at 

 this time of the year should be gathered 

 3 or 4 times daily during cold weather to 

 avoid chilling, and stored in a clean dry 

 place where the temperature ranges be- 

 tween 50'and 60° F. 



Brooding. — Special difficulties attend 

 brooding as well as the hatching of chicks 

 out of season. They must be reai'ed in- 

 doors, kept comfortable at all times, fed a 

 special ration, and provided ample room 

 in quarters that can be kept clean, dry, 

 and warm. Early chicks reared in-doors 

 require more floor space than those per- 

 mitted to run out of doors. About i to 3 

 square feet should be allowed each chick 

 during the first four weeks and about 1 

 Continued on page 8, column 2 



