FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OF HAMPSHIRE COUINTV 



Vol. X. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., MAY, 1925 



No. 5 



GROWING ROUGHAGE PAYS 



Apparently there are a few dairymen 

 who still doubt that roughage can go a 

 very long way toward making milk with 

 the average-producing cow. A few coun- 

 ty agents and specialists have believed 

 for some time that it could be done, but 

 there hasn't been much local evidence to 

 support the belief. In Illinois and in 

 other states farther west, dairy farmers 

 have proven beyond a doubt that it is 

 just as possible and a lot more profitable 

 by proper feeding to get one hundred 

 pounds of milk from twenty pounds of 

 grain as from forty pounds of grain 

 which latter seems to be the popular 

 amount to use here in Massachusetts. 



There have been local men right along 

 however, who preferred using the twenty- 

 pounds, making uji the balance of the feed 

 with good hay and corn silage. Mr. 

 Albert Chapin, of Sheffield, is a good ex- 

 ample. Records from this herd of about 

 24 cows on an average, are available 

 since 1921. It would be interesting read- 

 ing to show the record by months and 

 years for this entire period. Space will 

 not permit, however, tho such a record 

 would show the advantage of this farm 

 during the summer months, due to some 

 good pastures. To make a fair com- 

 parison with those herds which have not 

 the advantage of pasture for any length 

 'of time, only the high points of winter 

 feeding will be shown. 



Beginning with the winter of 1921-1922 

 the yield of milk per pound of grain fed 

 was 3.33 pounds. The following winter 

 3.88 pounds, the following 4.8 pounds and 

 last December the average yield was 4.85 

 pounds. This steady progress has been 

 due not to better cows each year nor to 

 cows of way-above-average production 

 but simply to an intelligent use of good 

 roughage in liberal amounts. The aver- 

 age ration now fed is forty pounds of 

 silage and twelve pounds of hay, which is 

 liberal, but by no means heavy for Hol- 

 stein cows. 



Another point in good practice, is that 

 the cows in this herd are not allowed to 

 slump in the late summer and fall, but 

 go into the winter in such shape that it 

 does not require a period of heavy grain 

 feeding in a vain attempt to get them 

 back to normal production. Still an- 

 other point which is going to keep this 

 herd coming is the increased amount of 

 Continued on page 10, column 3 



CONCERNING SUBSCRIPTIONS 



This month you will receive a 

 bill for your subscription to the 

 Farmers' Monthly. We hope that 

 you will pay it promptly. Years 

 ago the Extension Service used to 

 collect one dollar for memberships. 

 Now the only way we get money 

 direct from the people we serve is 

 through subscriptions to this paper. 

 We run the organization on a very 

 narrow margin and need your help. 

 May we have your subscription to- 

 day? 



HOMEMAKERS! ATTENTION! 



Laurel Park June 11 — J0.30 A. M. 



Project work once more comes to a 

 close and we have the opportunity to 

 celebrate the event. The celebration will 

 be held at Laurel Park on June 11th and 

 there will be "something doing" every 

 minute. 



Each year we try to have a better pro- 

 gram than in the year before and no ef- 

 fort has been spared this year in making 

 the day worth setting aside for this meet- 

 ing. 



Temporary Program 



10.30 A. M. — Community Singing. 



10.45 A. M. — Playlets by various pro- 

 ject groups; "Food for Thought," "Home 

 Demonstration Agent's Dream," "A 

 Kitchen Theatrical." 



12.00 M. — Basket Lunch. 



1.15 P. M. — "Ourselves as Others See 

 Us," Miss Helen Knowlton, Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College. 



1.45 P. M. — Lunch Box Demonstra- 

 tion, Pelham .Junior Food Club. 



2.00 P. M. — "The New Point of View 

 of the Homemaker." 



Mrs. Julian A. Dimock, East Corinth, 

 Vt. 



Mrs. Dimock has had wide experience 

 in home economics work. She has taught 

 at Simmons and at the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College. During the past 

 year she has been a member of the 

 Veimont Legislature. But first of all, 

 she is a homemaker and farm woman 

 and she will have a real message for you. 

 You can not afl'ord to let the opportunity 

 of hearing her pass by. 



Continued on page 5, column 2 



SPRAYING AND DUSTING 



Last year experiments were conducted 

 in Ohio to compare dusting and spray- 

 ing of potatoes. Different bordeaux prep- 

 arations and copper-Iimc dusts were 

 used in an effort to determine the num- 

 ber of applications necessary for the 

 most profitable results on late and early 

 potatoes. Bordeaux mixtures of 2-2-50 

 and 4-4-50 strength were used as sprays. 

 The dust was a copper-lime preparation 

 which analyzed nineteen per cent mono- 

 hydrated copper-sulfate. Both sprays 

 contained arsenate of lead to control 

 chewing insects. A power sprayer with 

 three nozzles to the row was used to ap- 

 ply the sprays. A hand duster of the 

 American Beauty type was used for the 

 dusting. 



The potatoes were planted May 10. 

 No late blight developed in any of the 

 plots. A small amount of early blight 

 was present in the check plots, but not in 

 sufficient amount to exert any influence 

 on the yield. Hopperburn, except where 

 controlled, was very severe, the check 

 plots showing fifty-five to sixty per cent 

 of severe hopperburn on September 1. It 

 is evident then that the beneficial results 

 of sprays or dust, since blights were not 

 a factor, were due to controlling hopper- 

 burn and to the stimulating effect of the 

 treatment, causing a more vigorous 

 growth of the plants. If either late or 

 early blight had been a factor, the results 

 would have been more striking, since 

 some of the treatments would have con- 

 trolled the disease, while yields from the 

 check plots would have been lowered. 



An average of twenty to twenty-five 

 pounds of dust was used in each applica- 

 tion, and approximately 100 gallons of 

 liquid spray per acre in each spray. 



Four applications of a 4-4-50 bordeaux 

 mixture gave 105.8 bushels per acre in- 

 crease over the check plots. The plots 

 sprayed five times gave an increase of 

 98.6 bushel per aci-e. The difference in 

 this test between the increase of plots 

 sprayed four times and those sprayed 

 five times is not significant, and the re- 

 sults from five applications should be in- 

 terpreted to be as good as those from 

 four applications but no better. The 

 dusted plots gave an increase of 43 bush- 

 els per acre over the checks, but less than 

 half the increase yielded by the plots 

 sprayed with 4-4-50 bordeaux mixture. 

 Continued on page 11, (.'olunin :; 



