FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



A LITTLE REPAIR WORK WILL PUT HIM ON HIS FEET 



but it is certain that three out of every 

 four acres of tillable land are in tame 

 hay. 



The tame hay crop also exceeds in 

 value that of any other single crop in 

 every New England state except Maine 

 and, if the potato county, Aroostooli, be 

 omitted, the comparison holds for that 

 state as well. It is shown, too, that in a 

 number of northern dairy counties the 

 hay crop excells in value all other crops 

 grown. 



"A crop of this importance is worthy 

 of serious attention and consideration on 

 the part of farmers," believes J. B. Ab- 

 bott, formerly exten.sion agronomist at 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College, and 

 now con.sulting agronomist for the 

 National Fertilizer Association, at Bel- 

 lows Falls, Vermont. 



"What is hay worth? Does it yield a 

 profit? Can it be made more profitable?, 

 are some of the questions to be consider- 

 ed. If hay must be bought, it is worth 

 to the farmer the amount of money he 

 can save by feeding his home-grown hay 

 in place of purchased feeds — for hay and 

 grain are interchangeable within certain 

 limits and may be substituted one for the 



other. One ton of a good 20 per cent 

 mixed dairy feed furnishes 1.500 pounds 

 of digestible nutrients and costs around 

 .$48 per ton; a ton of clover mixed hay 

 contains 924 pounds of digestible nu- 

 trients. Of this basis a ton of such hay 

 is worth $2.5.22. The way to realize such 

 value from home-grown hay is to feed it 

 in place of grain at every possible op- 

 portunity, — feeding it more liberally dur- 

 ing the winter and to supplement .short 

 pastures during the pasture season." 



"Hay at $25 a ton in the barn is a 

 profitable crop and worthy of the farm- 

 er's best attention to the details of 

 manuring and fertilizing. When the hay 

 crop is well manured or fertilized before 

 seeding, and fertilized annually there- 

 after, yields will be so much higher than 

 at present that the cost per ton will be 

 materially reduced. Profit per ton and 

 per acre of hay land will then be cor- 

 respondingly increased', Abbott con- 

 cludes. 



Dr. J. K. Shaw of M. A. C. states that 

 sooner or later every orchard needs nitro- 

 gen. This applies to cultivated as well 

 as orchards in sod. 



COW TEST SUMMARY 



The February cow testing association 

 records show that there were thirty-three 

 cows that produced over forty-five pounds 

 of butter fat during the month. This is 

 a smaller number than last month but 

 this is because of the smaller number of 

 days this month. The following table 

 gives the records of the cows producing 

 the largest amount of butter fat in 

 February : 



* Milked 3 times daily. 

 ** Milked 4 times daily. 



The summary shows the following herd 

 averages of production per cow: three 

 herds oyer 1,000 pounds of milk; four 

 herds between 900 and 1,000 pounds; six 

 between 800 and 900 lbs. ; eleven between 

 700 and 800 lbs.; twelve betwen 600 and 

 700 lbs. ; seven between 500 and 600 lbs. ; 

 five less than 500 pounds of milk per cow 

 for the month. The following gives the 

 herds having the highest average milk 

 production per cow: 



Owner 



Pelissier Bros., Hadley 

 J. G. Cook, Hadley 

 E. P. West, Hadley 

 H. J. Searle & Son, 



Hadley 

 Bisbee Bros., Chester'fd 

 A. D. Montague, 



Westhampton 13 



The average butter fat production per 

 cow, taking the herd as a unit, was as 

 follows: Four herds averaged over 35 lbs. 

 per cow; six herds between 30 and 35 

 lbs.; seventeen between 20 and 25 lbs.; 

 and seven below 20 lbs of butter fat per 

 cow for February. The following is a 

 list of the herds having the highest 

 average production of butter fat: 



Owner 



Pelissier Bros., Hadley 

 J. G. Cook, Hadley 

 M. S. Howes, Cum'ton 

 E. P. West, Hadley 

 Ellis Harlow, Amherst 

 H. J.. Searle & Son 



Hadley 11 



963 



33.6 



