FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OF HAMPSHIRE COUINTV 



rai 



Vol. X. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JULY, 1925 



No. 7 



ALFALFA TOURS HELD 



Demonstrators Show Alfalfa Can do 

 Well Here 



That Alfalfa can be made a piofitable 

 hay crop on the lighter .soils of the coun- 

 ty was shown at the three twilight alfalfa 

 meetings held the middle of .June in 

 South Hadley, Granby and Easthampton. 

 The fields visited were in no sense gar- 

 den patches but real man sized fields such 

 as have a real bearing on the cost of milk 

 pi'oduction. All of the meetings were 

 well attended by farmers who are inter- 

 ested in alfalfa as a means of reducing 

 grain bills. As a result of these meet- 

 ings, fifteen men have asked the County 

 Agent to assist them in starting with al- 

 falfa. 



South Hadley Tour 



About twenty-five men met at Earl H. 

 A. Bagg's farm to inspect his twelve 

 acres of alfalfa. Five years ago, Mr. 

 Bagg put in his first field of alfalfa 

 which contains about two acres. Last 

 fall, this piece was heavily pastured, yet 

 it looks as though the piece would cut 

 two tons of hay per acre this year. 

 Years ago a four-acre field which was 

 heavily infested with witch grass was 

 manured, limed and fertilized. One-half 

 was sown with alfalfa, clover and timothy, 

 ■while the other half was seeded with 

 clover and timothy. The part where the 

 alfalfa was sown will cut about two tons 

 of alfalfa-witch grass hay per acre, while 

 the other half will do well to pioduce one 

 ton of witch grass hay per acre. 



Last year, Mr. Bagg seeded six acres 

 with an alfalfa-timothy-clover mixture. 

 All of the fields were manured, fertilized, 

 and limed alike. One field was sown 

 July 2.5, the next August 1.5 and the third 

 about September 1. The July seeding 

 looks as though it would cut three tons of 

 hay per acre. That seeded in August 

 will probably cut about two tons per 

 acre, while the third will do well to cut a 

 ton-and-a-half. Also the later seedings 

 do not have as good a stand of alfalfa as 

 that sown in July. Mr. Bagg said that 

 he was convinced that alfalfa should be 

 sown by August 1. The fields certainly 

 backed up his statements. He is plan- 

 ning to put in about five acres of alfalfa 

 this year. 



At the Whiting FaiTn, Manager Steb- 

 bins showed ten acres of alfalfa that was 

 Continued on page 8. column 1 I 



WHAT NEXT? 



After hearing the reports given 

 at the Summary Meeting by the 

 women who have taken the project 

 work this last year and what fine 

 results have been accomplished, you 

 must have in mind what work you 

 would like to take up next fall. If 

 you have, will you appoint yourself 

 a committee of one to write to the 

 Home Demonstration Agent and 

 tell hei- what it is. This will help 

 in planning the fall program and 

 you will get quicker and better ser- 

 vice as a result. 



HOMEMAKERS' DAY HELD AT 

 LAUREL PARK JUNE 11, 1925 



Nineteen Towns Out of Twenty=three 

 Represented 



One hundred and fifty-six women from 

 nineteen of the twenty-three towns in 

 Hampshire County atended the Home- 

 makers' Day, June 11th, held at Laurel 

 Park, Northampton, Massachusetts. 



The women in the county had full 

 charge of the program. Mrs. Clifton 

 Johnson, chairman of the advisory coun- 

 cil and a member of the board of trustees, 

 gave the welcoming address and presided 

 at the meeting. So that every woman 

 might have her shai-e in the day's ex- 

 ercises community singing was featured. 

 Mrs. James Smith of Easthampton lead 

 the singing and Miss Marian Lombard of 

 South Amherst played the piano. 



The junior work was represented by 

 thirteen Amherst food club girls under 

 the leadership of Mrs. Earl Nodine. 

 These girls believe that the only beauty 

 parlor needed should contain natural 

 products such as cow's vanishing cream, 

 vanity biiishes for the teeth, green vanity 

 cases made of leafy vegetables, powder 

 puffs from fluffy baked potatoes, and the 

 results are much better obtained than 

 from the use of rouge and powder, and in 

 a very effective manner they tried to sell 

 their Never-Fail beauty products to the 

 audience. 



The three major adult projects were 

 dramatized to show what work is offered 

 and what results the women can receive 

 from studying them. 



Continued on page 5, column 2 



COUNTY CHAMPIONS' CAMP 



Seven Attend Camp Gilbert 



Hampshire County County Champions 

 again attend Camp Gilbert at the Mas.s- 

 achusetts Agricultural College from July 

 24 to .31st. They get this trip because 

 they proved themselves to have done the 

 best job in their projects as judged by us 

 with the information we had concerning 

 them. We try in picking a county cham- 

 pion to consider (1) the quality of their 

 work, (2) the quantity of their work, 

 (.3) their club spirit or zeal. These three 

 subjects give opportunity for a great deal 

 of consideration in that we consider the 

 member himself as well as what he or she 

 has accomplished. 



We think we have picked good cham- 

 pions to head the projects but we know 

 that many will be disappointed with our 

 decision. If disappointed, remember we 

 will pick a champion again in 1926. 



The dairy champion, C. Hilton Boyn- 

 ton, is thirteen years old and the owner 

 of three dairy heifers and a bull. He 

 has been developing interest in the Hol- 

 stein breed since 1922, when he sold his 

 sheep and bought Sarah Pontiac Frilly 

 from W. D. Clark of Granby. The germ 

 of interest was in him and his parents 

 helped it to grow. At Mt. Hermon in the 

 spring of 1924 he purchased a heifer 

 which is in condition at present fit for a 

 king's stable. She went to the Eastern 

 States Exposition and to Northampton 

 last fall. She didn't take first but was 

 far from last. While at the Eastern 

 States, Hilton and his father were look- 

 ing over Hargrove and Arnold's stock 

 from Iowa. They finally purchased a 

 very fine six months old bull which 

 would do you good to see. His help in 

 Hilton's as well as his father's herd will 

 be important. At a recent sale at the Ex- 

 position grounds in Springfield a heifer 

 was bought, the dam of which made 

 twenty-five pounds of butter in seven 

 days while the dam of the bull made 

 twenty-seven hundred pounds of milk in 

 three hundred and five days. 



At the Mixter Farm Field Day this 

 spring Hilton tied with four others for 

 first place. Another ring was judged to 

 break the tie and he came in third and 

 took home the yellow ribbon. 



Elizabeth A. Zumbruski of Russell- 

 ville, Hadley, will represent us as canning 

 champion. She is seventeen years old 



Continued on page 6 column 3 



