FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



that a 20 percent grain was not only more 

 economical but that, in the quantities 

 usually fed, it was safer. The old rule of , 

 thumb statement that low protein hay | 

 needs high protein grain is not always in- 

 fallible. It works well on poor cows but , 

 it is not a safe rule to follow on good 

 producers. Cow testing association rec- 

 ords in this county show that a large per- I 

 centage of the cows suffer more from a | 

 shortage of total digestible nutrients than 

 they do from too little protein. Several 

 times salesmen have got men to use grain 

 that was too high in protein with the re- 

 sult that cows had trouble with garget 

 and digestive disorders. Several times 

 the testers have reported that fresh cows 

 have been thrown off feed by too liberal 

 use of high protein grain. All of this in- 

 dicates that most dairymen are giving the 

 cows all the protein they can handle. 

 The number of cows that are too thin to 

 do their best is an indication that few 

 herds suffer from too many digestible 

 nutrients. 



Fruit Groovers Meet 



Continuod from page 1, column 2 

 using both the "pre-pink" and the "pink" 

 sprays on Mcintosh, Delicious and other 

 susceptible varieties. Liquid lime sul- 

 phur is the best material to control scab. 

 The use of "spreaders" has been of little 

 value except on varieties that are apt to 

 be "russeted" by spraying. As to the 

 lasting effects of an application of lime 

 sulphur he stated that its maximum 

 length of control was three weeks. <In 

 rainy seasons the spray should be put on 

 at least every two weeks, preferably be- 

 fore a rain. If the leaves can be kept free 

 from scab till two weeks after petals fall 

 the crop will be reasonably free of the 

 disease. 



About fifty fruit growers attended the 

 dinner and a fine time was enjoyed by all. 

 At the afternoon session spraying costs 

 were discussed by Prof. W. H. Thies and 

 by President Chas. H. Gould of the 

 Hampshire County Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation. Mr. Gould stated that he had 

 kept fairly accurate account of his spray- 

 ing costs and while the figures might not 

 apply to other orchards they did indicate 

 the proportion charged to material and to 

 labor. The total cost of the delayed 

 dormant spray was made up as follows: 

 Materials 60'^, Labor (horse and man) 

 30%, Gas and Oil 3.9%, Mi.scellaneous 

 6.i7r. For the calyx spray the costs were 

 made up as follows: Material 47.2%, 

 Labor (horse and man) 47.2%, Gas and 

 Oil .5.6%. 



The next meeting of the Hampshire 

 County Fruit Growers' Association will 

 be held at Chas. Gould's Hillside Orchard 

 about the third week in August. The 

 Massachusetts Fruit Growers Association 

 and the county associations in Hampden 

 and Franklin counties are being invited 

 to attend this meeting. 



TWELVE COMMANDMENTS 

 FOR ALFALFA GROWERS 



Put This Where You Can Find It 



1. Thou shalt not sow alfalfa on poor- 

 ly drained soil for it will surely perish. 



2. Thou shalt not sow alfalfa on acid 

 soil for it will not do well. One to three 

 tons of limestone will make acid soils 

 sweet and productive. 



3. Thou shalt use no other fertilizer 

 but acid phosphate when sowing alfalfa. 

 It is iniquitous to waste your money on 

 any other. 



4. Thou shalt not sow the ordinary 

 variety. Grimm and Ontario Variegated 

 are less likely to cause blasphemy owing 

 to failure. 



5. Verily, verily I say unto you that 

 bacteria are essential in order that al- 

 falfa may take nitrogen from the air; 

 therefore thou shalt not sow alfalfa on 

 land that has never grown it, without in- 

 oculating, for such a sin will be added 

 unto others. 



6. Thou shalt not sow alfalfa on poor- 

 ly prepared, weedy and cloddy soil. A 

 deep, firm, finely pulverized seed-bed will 

 give alfalfa unto you. 



7. Thou shalt not plant alfalfa in win- 

 ter, but in spring or summer instead. 

 Alfalfa seeded alone from .June 15 to 

 .July 15 will surely, without a nurse crop, 

 give best results. 



8. Thou shalt not wait till a large 

 percentage of the leaves are lost or stems 

 become woody before cutting. Such hay 

 will cause the wrath of a cow to become 

 intense and her milk will be denied you. 



9. Thou shalt not cure alfalfa in the 

 swath, but in the windrow is best. 



10. Thou shalt not kill alfalfa by cut- 

 ting late in the fall or by too close pastur- 

 ing. Blessed is the farmer who leaves a 

 good growth of alfalfa to go into the win- 

 ter, for he shall prosper by it. 



11. Thou shalt not desire thy neigh- 

 bors alfalfa fields, or his high producing 

 cows or his milk check, for you can have 

 the same if you try. 



12. Thou shall have no timothy hay 

 before your cows if alfalfa can be grown. 

 Such cruelty to dumb animals is surely a 

 sin and whosoever follows such a practice 

 will be forever damned. 



L. A. Dalfon, in the American Agricul- 

 turist. 



THE FILLER TREE 



The recent Apple Survey reveals the 

 fact that there are approximately 75,000 

 filler trees in Massachusetts. And if 

 every case of crowded planting were 

 taken into account this number would 

 perhaps be doubled. A large percentage 

 of these trees should be removed im- 

 mediately. Why? 



As its name implies, a "filler tree" 

 must be considered only as a temporary 

 proposition. Just as soon as it begins to 

 hinder the development of the permanent 

 tree it should be eliminated. We are in- 

 clined to look only at the top, thinking 

 that so long as the limbs do not interfere 

 seriously, everything is O. K. But there 

 is competition among the roots even be- 

 fore the tips of the branches touch those 

 of the tree adjoining. This retards 

 growth of the permanent tree. 



Furthermore the tendency of a tree, 

 even when moderately crowded, is to 

 grow upward instead of spreading out. 

 No amount or type of pruning will com- 

 pensate for the uniform distribution of 

 sunlight. And unless the filler tree is 

 removed promptly, the permanent tree is 

 the victim of a second handicap which re- 

 sults from difficulties in pruning. 



And lastly, when crowding begins, it is 

 physically impossible to do a good job of 

 spraying. The fruit is therefore of 

 poorer quality and the tree suffers in- 

 directly due to a weakened leaf system. 



The writer is fully aware of the temp- 

 tation to "leave the filler tree one more 

 year" because each year it is bringing in 

 a larger return. But the few dollars 

 which it nets now will not offset its 

 damage to the permanent tree. In the 

 case of large-growing varieties such as 

 Baldwin and Mcintosh, forty feet of 

 space is not too much. To allow this 

 space, growers should wield the axe be- 

 fore spring work begins. 



W. H. Thies, M. A.C. 



As regards potatoes for 1926, the 

 Federal Land Bank of Springfield says 

 "Opinion favors no increase in acreage 

 and a decrease if anything." This is a 

 year when growers should make every 

 effort to keep production costs down if 

 they expect to realize a profit next fall. 



Experiments at M. A. C. have shown 

 that dry lime-sulfur is not as efficient as 

 the liquid for the dormant spray. 



THE DELICIOUS APPLE 



The recent apple orchard survey in 

 Massachusetts shows rather heavy plant- 

 ing of Delicious especially during the past 

 five years. While the College has not 

 vigorously advocated planting this varie- 

 ty it has not advised strongly against it. 

 Its value in Massachusetts is not yet 

 fully determined. It is evident that some 

 growers have had good success with this 

 variety and others have had rather poor 

 success. It appears that in many cases 

 the apples tend to run small and of rather 

 poor quality and are not of the most at- 

 tractive appearance. This tendency is 

 apt to appear after the first few crops if 

 it does not in the first years of bearing. 



The question arises what to do in those 

 cases when the variety does not succeed 

 Continued on page 8, column 2 



