FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OF HAMPSHIRE COUINTV 



Vol. X. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JUNE, 1925 



No. 6 



WHO'S WHO WITH POULTRY 



Fourteen Flocks Above 160 Bgg Standard 

 for Six Months 



The April poultry report closed the 

 first six months of the County Egg Lay- 

 ing Contest. Of the fifty-three flocks re- 

 porting, only fourteen equaled the 160- 

 egg standard. Experts figure that birds 

 lay nearly half of their eggs in the first 

 six months. While we speak glibbly of 

 300-egg hens, there are ony two flocks 

 that have a chance of averaging 200 eggs 

 per bird. These flocks undoubtedly have 

 birds that will come close to the three 

 hundred mark. The following is the list 

 of the county leaders for the six months' 

 period, November through April. 



u, 



H p. 



109.2 

 102.6 

 98.8 

 9.5.0 

 94.6 

 94.-5 

 93.2 

 89.9 

 88.7 

 88.4 

 87.2 

 87.2 

 80.6 

 80.08 



1. S. F. Thomas, Aniherst 114 



2. F. D. Steele, Cum'ton 300 



3. Minnie Moody, Amherst 74 



4. H. C. Booth, Belchertown 803 



5. A. H. Ballou, Ware 72 



6. R. 'S. Schoonmaker, Am. 164 



7. Hillside School, Grn'wich 562 



8. H. T. Newhall, Amherst 296 



9. S. G. Waite, South'ton 97 



10. P. L. Wheelock, Amherst 195 



11. Geo. E. Scott, Bel'town 487 



12. Mrs. Alderman, M'field 254 



13. John Bloom, Ware 325 



14. W. S. Chaffee, Pelham 131 



All of the flocks on the above list had 

 early-hatched chicks. It is impossible to 

 get high winter production with late- 

 hatched birds. There are those that be- 

 lieve that late-hatched birds lay better in 

 the summer than early-hatched birds. 

 Experiments do not bear out this opinion. 

 They show that there is practically no 

 difference in summer laying between the 

 two lots. In other words, time lost in 

 getting birds into production is never 

 made up. 



All of the fourteen flocks were raised 

 under the disease control program last 

 year. This means that the brooder 

 houses were disinfected with corrosive 

 sublimate, moved to clean land or the 

 land around the houses was disinfected 

 with corrosive sublimate, the pullets were 

 fed tobacco dust if there had been a worm 

 infection on the plant and then the ma- 

 ture pullets were put into cleansed and 

 disinfected laying houses. To maintain 

 Continued on pagre 8, column 1 



STATE HONORS WON 



In the State egg laying contest 

 for small flocks for April, Adolf 

 Wilier of Easthampton placed 

 eighth. For a flock over forty birds 

 Joseph Sena's black minorcas at 

 Easthampton placed fifth while 

 Henry Randall's leghorns at Gran- 

 by placed sixth. Robert Barr of 

 Huntington came in for eighth 

 place among large flocks with his 

 reds. There are three thousand 

 club members in the State of 

 Massachusetts. 



CULTIVATE TO KILL WEEDS 



Many farmers are still cultivating corn 

 with shovels set deep, pruning the roots 

 and driving them deeper into the soil 

 where plant food is not so available as it 

 is in the top three inches of soil. For 

 some reason or other they have failed to 

 practice cultivation only for the purpose 

 of killing weeds. 



As an average of twenty-four years of 

 experiments at the Illinois station it was 

 found that a field of corn in which the 

 weeds were removed by scraping them off 

 with a hoe gave a yield almost exactly the 

 same as a field cultivated with a surface 

 cultivator. Deep cultivation gave a yield 

 of 1 or 2 bushels less on the average than 

 either shallow cultivation or scraping 

 with a hoe. Many deep cultivations de- 

 creased the yield further. 



These experiments indicate clearly that 

 the deep cultivation is harmful. Cultiva- 

 tion should be as shallow as possible, al- 

 though deep stirring is less injurious at 

 the first cultivation than later. The 

 feeder roots of the corn plant leave the 

 stalk about two inches below the surface 

 of the soil no matter how deep the grain 

 has been planted. Plowing close to the 

 stalk and deeper than these roots injures 

 many of these roots and results in de- 

 creased yields. 



It appears, that the top three inches of 

 soil contains more available plant food 

 than that further down and that it is of 

 more value as a feeding ground for corn 

 roots than as a mulch. Recent experi- 

 ments have shown that the value of the 

 mulch in corn culture probably was over- 

 estimated. In any event, if the surface 

 soil is filled with the roots of growing 

 Continued on page 0, column 1 



SELLING QUALITY EGGS 



To assure that local eggs receive prop- 

 er recognition for freshness and quality 

 it is necessary that our poultrymen push 

 the sale of their eggs in the most ef- 

 fective manner. There are three es- 

 sential points in marketing eggs to the 

 best advantage: (1) high quality eggs, 

 caiefully graded, dependable and guaran- 

 teed, (2) attractive, dignified cartons, 

 properly identifying the contents with the 

 producer or region of production, and (3) 

 advertising to acquaint the consuming 

 public with what constitutes real egg 

 quality and where they may secure such 

 eggs. 



Flocks must be selected and bred with 

 a view to producing eggs of a uniformly 

 attractive size and color. The layers 

 must be healthy, the plants sanitary, 

 feeding practices wholesome, and the eggs 

 kept clean. All eggs sold directly to 

 consumers or to retailers must be can- 

 dled (examined before a strong light) to 

 eliminate meat spots and bloody eggs. 

 In warm weather eggs should be infertile. 



To sell directly to consumers or to re- 

 tail stores, eggs should be packed in one 

 dozen size cartons. For attractiveness, 

 firmness of package, convenience in pack- 

 ing in regular egg cases as well as for 

 keeping them in the consumer's refrigera- 

 tor, the 2x6 egg cartons are prefei-able 

 to the 3 -x 4 egg size and shape. These 

 cartons should be rather plain and digni- 

 fied in appearance. For brown eggs, 

 manila or strawboard color fillers are 

 best, but for white eggs a blue lining 

 makes a more pleasing contrast. The 

 producer's name or farm may be printed 

 on the .cover. In case of associations, 

 marketing in this manner, a trademark 

 should identify each package. An at- 

 tractive label should seal the package and 

 guarantee the contents. 



Local Eggs Need Advertizing 



To a degree eggs of quality packed as 

 described above will advertise themselves. 

 And yet there are many consumers who 

 do not know the factors which really con- 

 stitute quality. It is good business for 

 local poultrymen to enlighten them; 

 otherwise it will not be done. Further- 

 more, eggs are an exceptional food de- 

 serving of greater recognition and ap- 

 preciation. They are one of the few 

 concentrated sources of the vitamins A 

 and I), so valuable in promoting growth 

 Continued on page 11. column 1 



