10 



FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



WILL TOBACCO FARMERS GROW 



VEGETABLES IN 1926? 



The tobacco growers of the Connecti- 

 cut Valley have in storage at the present 

 time a year's production of tobacco in ex- 

 cess of normal. They have not yet been 

 able to cash in on this at the slightest pro- 

 fit and may be obliged to take substantial 

 loss. Tobacco will not be grown as ex- 

 tensively next year. As a consequence 

 some 8,000 or 10,000 acres of tobacco land 

 will be released from tobacco growing. 

 A portion of it will be devoted to other 

 crops. Market gardeners are wondering 

 how much of this area will be planted to 

 vegetables, and how it will affect the 

 vegetable markets which are already so 

 unstable. 



As to the first question, it is difficult 

 to surmise. The tobacco land is admi- 

 rably suited to the production of certain 

 truck crops. Little additional equipment 

 will be necessary. Labor costs less in the 

 valley than in the principal vegetable 

 growing areas of the state. As a result 

 of these circumstances certain venture- 

 some tobacco farmers may attempt some 

 truck growing. 



The second query is the more important, 

 of course. How will this production af- 

 fect the markets of the State? Much less 

 than has been prophesied by some. Mar- 

 ket gardening is a highly specialized in- 

 dustry in which each different vegetable 

 requires its own particular culture and 

 management. It is not an easy matter, 

 therefore, for the untrained person to 

 step over into the realm of vegetable 

 growing and walk off with a prize at the 

 end of the season. On the contrary, it 

 is easy to fail. And so, even though con- 

 siderable tobacco area be planted to vege- 

 tables, the volume of production will be 

 small in proportion to the area, and the 

 effect on the market be of slight conse- 

 quence. 



It is certain that those who feel in- 

 clined to experiment with vegetables in 

 the valley next summer, will discover that 

 there is no fortune in it. The season 

 just closing marks for New England mar- 

 ket gardeners a year of as low^ net re- 

 turns as have ever been realized. Many 

 of these growers have developed a pro- 

 nounced squint. This is the result of 

 looking for a bank balance that isn't 

 there. The kindest thing that these men 

 can do for tobacco growers who contem- 

 plate vegetable growing, and who are al- 

 ready in distressing cii-cumstances, is to 

 submit to them for careful consideration, 

 the figures of the year's production. The 

 margin of profit in most cases is very 

 narrow, and in many instances it is in- 

 visible. 



An economic adjustment will be 

 brought about in the tobacco section just 

 as surely as it has been done in hundreds 

 of similar agricultural situations. By 



just what means no one can say now, but 

 it will not be accomplished by the whole- 

 sale growing of vegetables. — R. M. Koon, 

 M. A. C. 



ECONOMIC FEEDING 



Kind and amount of grain depends on 

 roughage supply 



The subject of feeding dairy cattle is 

 always timely, that is, they always have 

 to be fed, but the advice given is often so 

 timeworn as to be of little value in any 

 particular case. 



Rather than suggest any one grain 

 mixture in this letter, I shall attempt 

 briefly to show why this would be un- 

 wise. Why do most grain manufacturers 

 now put out at least three dairy rations, 

 containing usually 16%, 20% and 24% 

 total protein? Simply because feeders 

 are learning that the kind of grain to be 

 used depends upon a number of condi- 

 tions. 



1. THE AMOUNT AND KIND OF 

 ROUGHAGE FED. 



Cows receiving on an average 1.5 lbs. 

 of hay and 40 lbs. of corn silage will re- 

 cjuire less grain for a given milk produc- 

 tion than will cows eating only 10 lbs. of 

 hay and 20 lbs. of silage. If the hay con- 

 tains much clover or alfalfa, less protein 

 will be necessary in the grain. The mis- 

 take is often made of feeding a high pro- 

 tein grain with leguminous hay, result- 

 ing in unnecessary expense and often in- 

 jury to the cow. 



Well eared corn silage as compared 

 with the immature sort will mean a sav- 

 ing of corn meal in the grain mixture. 



2. THE PRODUCTION OF THE 

 COW. 



The cow of high production deserves 

 and must have more grain than the low 

 producer, but assuming that the same 



RAISE HEALTHY CHICKS! 



CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE 



is valuable for 



Disinfecting Brooder Houses and Yards _ 



We carry it in powdered form 'A 



Put up in the size package you need J; 



It is cheaper by the pound 



WISWELL THE DRUGGIST «< 



52 nain Street 



I '•' 



Northampton, 



Whatever 



Your 



Question 



Mass. I 



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Be it the pronunciation of vita- 

 min or marquisette or soviet, the 

 spelling of a puzzling word — the 

 meaning of overhead, novoeaine, 

 etc., this "Supreme Authority." 

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