FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



NEW YORK STATE VISITED 



County Agents Inspect Extension Work 



Instead of the usual conference, the 

 county agents of Massachusetts and Con- 

 necticut took a trip through New York 

 State to study agricultural conditions as 

 well as methods and results of extension 

 work. The trip started Monday, June 22 

 from Springfield, taking in the dairy and 

 genei'al farming region bordering the Mo- 

 hawk River Valley and the Eastern New 

 York Plateau from Albany to Richfield 

 Springs. Tuesday, the general farming, 

 dairying and alfalfa region of central 

 New York and the Finger Lakes region 

 was seen. Wednesday, the Geneva Ex- 

 periment Station and adjoining fruit belt 

 was visited. Thursday was spent at the 

 New Yoi'k State College of Agriculture 

 at Cornell University, Ithaca; Friday, 

 through the southern part of the Eastern 

 Plateau and the Catskill mountains from 

 Binghampton to Kingston. Saturday, a 

 tour was made through a part of the 

 Hudson Valley fruit belt around Kings- 

 ton. 



The Limestone Belt of New York 



The first day the paity of twenty-one 

 left Springfield at 9.00 A. M. and reached 

 Albany at 2.00 P. M. This part of the 

 trip was featured mainly by the "back 

 seat driving" on the part of the County 

 Agents. After going through the traffic 

 in Albany it was agieed that the bus 

 driver was an expert and knew more 

 about driving a bus than did the county 

 agents. 



We saw alfalfa growing both on sand 

 and on clay loam and at elevations vary- 

 ing from .50 to 1500 feet above sea level. 

 It was explained that this was a lime- 

 stone belt where practically no lime was 

 needed. Alfalfa growers however did 

 find that it pays to use acid phosphate 

 when seeding down. Fields were in- 

 spected that had been in alfalfa from 

 eight to fifteen years and are giving from 

 four to five tons of hay per year. One 

 grower said that they were able to get 

 profitable yields for fifteen years if they 

 got a good stand. In cases of unfavor- 

 able conditions at time of seeding, the 

 fields had to be plowed up in a shorter 

 time. Fine fields of clover too were the 

 rule where a shorter rotation was used. 

 First cutting alfalfa was quoted at thir- 

 teen dollars per ton f. o. b. cars, while 

 second cutting was off'ered at twenty to 

 twenty-three dollars. Some figured that 

 the alfalfa cost the fanners about six-and 

 -a-half dollars per ton loaded on the cars. 



Other sections of the lime belt are 

 growing alfalfa successfully. In these 

 sections from one to three tons of lime- 

 stone per acre were needed to correct .soil 

 acidity. Some fine stands of clover and 

 alfalfa were seen where lime was used. 

 Alfalfa hay and corn silage with but 

 little grain seems to be the basis of milk 

 production in the winter. 



Sweet Clover Grows Wild 



In the lime belt white .sweet clover 

 grows like a weed. It grows along the 

 roads and is particularly rank along the 

 railroads. Until recently no attempt has 

 been made to use it on farms. We saw 

 several demonstrations where it was u.sed 

 for pasture. On one farm seven acres 

 was sown last year in oats. It is now 

 carrying twenty-seven cows. At the time 

 of the trip it was about five feet in parts 

 of the pasture and hid many of the cows. 

 In this section white clover is abundant 

 in the pastures but pastures usually get 

 short in mid summer. Sweet clover is 

 u.sed to tide over this period and farmers 

 seem to be putting in more of it each 

 year. 



New York dairy farmers have been 

 hard hit by low milk prices in recent 

 years. With the increased acreage in al- 

 falfa and sweet clover and by the use of 

 good corn silage, they are making great 

 progress in lessening their cost of produc- 

 tion. This, with a slightly higher milk 

 market, is making them feel decidedly 

 more optimistic than in past years. The 

 general feeling is that dairymen have 

 gone through their worst years. This in 

 time is reflected in the price of cows as 

 both registered and grade Holsteins bring 

 as good prices as they do here. 



Service to Fruit Growers 



In the fruit sections, the County Agents 

 conduct a special spray service for their 

 growers. Weather reports are sent in to 

 the office, forecasting the weather for two 

 days in advance. The agent gets this re- 

 port between 10.00 and 11.00 P. M. At 

 times when Mcintosh apples should be 

 sprayed to prevent scab, this information 

 is relayed over the county by telephone. 

 The agent telephones to leaders who in 

 turn call three other men and each of 

 these call three other fmit growers. In 

 the morning mail, a post-card goes to each 

 glower confirming the forecast. A spe- 

 cial agent is hired for this spray service 

 and is paid by the fruit growers. The 

 cost varies from five to twenty dollars, 

 depending on the number requesting ser- 

 vice. In addition, the agent sprays check 

 blocks in several orchards so that if grow- 

 ers think the service was not what it 

 should have been, he can be taken to these 

 demonstration orchards and shown. 



While nitrate of .soda does not pay on 

 the Geneva Experiment station orchard, 

 where the land is thoroughly cultivated, 

 many of the fruit growers have found its 

 use profitable. We were .shown many 

 orchards where nitrate was showing ex- 

 cellent results and we saw other orchards 

 where nitrate would have paid. 



Two co-operative apple packing plants 

 were visited. The fruit is pooled, sorted, 

 packed and .sold co-operatively. In these 

 plants a man does not have to put in his 

 whole crop but he does have to put in 

 the whole of any variety. For example. 



he may have a market for Mclntcsh and 

 not for Baldwins. The whole of his 

 Baldwin crop must come through the as- 

 sociation. It costs associations from 

 twenty-six to seventy-six cents to pack a 

 barrel of apples, the average being about 

 forty-five cents. The plants we visited 

 had a packing cost of forty cents per bai'- 

 rel last year. 



Nearly one thousand miles were cover- 

 ed on the trip. Many fine agi-icultural 

 sections were seen. In Athens, farmers 

 depend upon "saw logs and summer 

 boarders" for cash. These sections seem 

 to be doing the things for which they are 

 primarily suited. One is struck by the 

 fact that there are hundreds of acres in 

 this section which could be more produc- 

 tive if economic conditions were right. 

 After we had seen it all, we were glad to 

 get home as we feel that good farmers 

 here have as good an opportunity as in 

 any other section. 



CURING ALFALFA 



On account of more uncertain weather 

 in the East, it is seldom possible to pro- 

 duce the pea green alfalfa hay of the 

 West, at least without expensive and 

 troublesome hay crops. However, the 

 green color seems to add but little to the 

 feeding value. One of the most im- 

 portant points in curing is to avoid loss 

 of the leaves, which have the highest 

 feeding value. If left in the swath till 

 dry the leaves shatter off badly and the 

 hay is often bleached white. A tedder 

 used soon after cutting will be necessary 

 with heavy crops. Before there is dan- 

 ger of shattering or bleaching, ordinarily 

 after one day in the -swath, the hay 

 should be raked into windrows. If a side 

 delivery rake is used the windrows may 

 be turned over once, or in case of wetting, 

 as often as necessary. The aim should 

 be to have as much as possible of the dry- 

 ing done by the air passing through the 

 hay, rather than by exposure to direct 

 sunlight. Where a loader is used the 

 hay may be taken directly from the wind- 

 rows; otherwi.se it is generally put up in 

 cocks about a day before storing. Cap- 

 ping was formerly advocated but is now 

 seldom practiced. 



Some growers put alfalfa up in rather 

 a green condition, simply being sure that 

 there is no external moisture. Such hay 

 often comes out very brown and caked 

 but is apparently relished as well, and 

 has as high feeding value as green hay. 

 This is not a safe practice, however, as 

 mow bui-ned, mouldy or musty hay is apt 

 to result, and many cases of fire have 

 been attributed to spontaneous combus- 

 tion due to tough alfalfa. The hay 

 should be as dry as clover; dry enough so 

 that moisture cannot be twisted from the 

 stems. 



Pennsylvania Extension Circular lOU 



