FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



has also increased the yield per acre. 

 They know that the use of manure has 

 reduced the percentage of low grades in 

 their crop. Then too both men are on 

 the job every minute when the tobacco is 

 being harvested. Their crop, while har- 

 vested .speedily, is handled with care. 

 One of the brothers has charge of the men 

 iii the field, while the other takes care of 

 the hanging. In this way they see that 

 tobacco is not damaged in handling. 



The Beldens have made a real study of 

 economical production. It would be a 

 revelation to many to study their meth- 

 ods of growing onions. They have battled 

 and subdued onion smut so that it no 

 longer causes them losses. They were 

 among the first to use the multiple-row 

 onion seeder which sows eight rows at 

 once. Their weeding has been cut down 

 to a point where in most seasons a man 

 can weed an acre and a half a day. The 

 secret of this is getting the weeds before 

 they really get started. The fight begins 

 before the onion seed is sown. The seed- 

 bed has to he fine and mellow. As soon as 

 the onions are up, a weeding machine is 

 used on the onion rows. This machine 

 has a pair of rotating "spiders" which 

 kick up the soil in the row. The principle 

 is that the onions being straight are not 

 hurt but the weeds are taken out. The 

 reason that many fail with these 

 machines, the Beldens believe, is because 

 the seedbed is not carefully prepared and 

 because growers wait till the weeds get 

 too much of a start. By using these 

 weeders all that the men have to do is to 

 pull out the larger weeds which the 

 machines have missed. By getting the 

 "jump" on the weeds they have been able 

 to reduce the hoeing of tobacco far below 

 that given by most farmers. This de- 

 crease in the amount of hoeing is not done 

 at the e.xpense of decreased tobacco yields. 

 Use Improved Methods on Onions 



In the harvesting of onions the Beldens 

 too are ahead of most growers. They be- 

 lieve in "pulling" the crop before the tops 

 are entirely dead. They have experi- 

 mented with the keeping quality of the 

 onions and find that the proper time to 

 harvest the crop is while the tops still 

 have a little green on them. Their system 

 of harvesting too is different. The 

 onions are not allowed to lie on the field 

 for a long period. As soon as the tops 

 and roots have dried down, the onions are 

 put in crates in the .storage before they 

 are topped. In the winter these untopped 

 onions are run over an electrically driven 

 topping machine which also screens the 

 crop. This takes the work of topping 

 and .screening from a season of the year 

 when other work is pressing and puts it 

 into the winter when there is more time 

 available for this work. The onion stor- 

 age on the farm holds about one hundred 

 cars. When the crop on the farm is not 

 large enough to fill the storage, space is 

 rented to local growers. 



Continued on page 10. oulumn 1 



LINCOLN ^^^^^^ FORDSON 



NEW PRICES FEBRUARY 1, 1926 



These are the lowest prices in history of Ford Motor Co. 



4-Door Sedan with Starter and Dem. Rims, 



$660.00 



2-Door Sedan " 



Coupe " 



Touring " 



Runabout " 



Chassis " 



Ton Truck Chassis, with starter 



Fordson Tractor, 



All prices F. O. B. Detroit 



We can furnish Balloon tires on all models for $26.25 extra. 



580.00 

 520.00 

 375.00 

 345.00 

 310.00 

 430.00 

 495.00 



CHASE MOTOR COMPANY 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



24 Center Street Telephone 470 



FARM OWNERSHIP 



It is the ambition of every farm boy to own his 

 own place, to be in business for himself. Some grad- 

 uates of the Smith's Agricultural School achieve this 

 desire. 



You will be interested in the story of one of the 

 School's graduates. 



This young man graduated in 1916 and immediately 

 went to work for a farmer near his home. He saved 

 his earnings and some other money which came to 

 him until, in 1921, he was able to make the first 

 payment on the farm where he worked. He now 

 owns this 90-acre place with stock and tools nearly 

 free and clear. He has been appointed to a re- 

 sponsible position by the State and is a substantial 

 citizen of his community. His training has helped 

 him to succeed. 



To receive training for successful farm oivner- 

 ship, attend the Smith's Agricultural School, North- 

 ampton. 



H. N. LooMis, 



Director. 



