

FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OF HAMPSHIRE COUINTY 



Vol. XL 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., MAY, 1926 



No. 5 



HOMEMAKERS! ATTENTION! 



Laurel Park June 9-10.30 A. M. 



June 9 is the date for our annual home- 

 makers' picnic. It is a day planned es- 

 pecially for the homemakers of Hamp- 

 shire County and every effort should be 

 made to attend. 



The program is going to be one of the 

 best because Dr. Hedger is going to 

 speak to us. She is one of the best au- 

 thorized speakers in the country on the 

 problems of the youth. 



Temporary Program 

 10.30 A. M. — Greetings from the Council 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson 



Advisory Council 

 10.4.5 A. M.— "The Miracle of the Guide 

 Pattern" 

 West Chesterfield Clothing Club 

 11.15 A. M. — Evolution of Extension 

 Miss Lucile W. Reynolds 

 State Home Demonstration 

 Agent Leader 

 11.30 A. M.— The Four Lea/"ed Clover 



Westhampton Food Club 

 11.40 A. M.— A Recipe for Health 

 Miss May E. Foley 

 State Nutrition Specialist 

 12.00 M.— Making the Most of What We 

 Have 



Huntington Furniture Reno- 

 vation Group 

 12.15 P. M.— Basket Lunch 

 1.30 P. M.— Social Hour 

 2.00 P. M.— Art In Dress And In The 

 Home 



Miss Bertha Knight 

 State Clothing Specialist 

 2.15 P. M.— The Problem of the Adoles- 

 cent 



Dr. Caroline Hedger of the 

 Elizabeth McCormick Memori- 

 al Fund 

 We are featuring this year a play- 

 ground for the children. There will be 

 several in charge of the playground and 

 ^,.you can leave your children there where 

 they will be taken good care of and you 

 can enjoy the meeting. Babies are no 

 excuse for not attending. 



Our goal is to have every town in the 

 county represented. In other words if 

 you are interested in Extension Work 

 now is the time to show your interest. 

 Pass the word along to your friends and 

 neighbors, prepare a basket lunch, and 

 be at Laurel Park at 10.30 Wednesday 

 morning, June 9. 





SOY BEANS FOR HAY 



No Need to be Short of Hay this 

 Year if You Have Land 



The above cut shows soy beans grown 

 by Joe Hathaway on the Pollard Farm in 

 Northampton. 



Last year about twenty-five men grew 

 soy beans for hay. The most of these 

 men are growing them again this year. 

 Their greatest value is: (1) as a green 

 feed to suppliment short pastures ; (2) as 

 an emergency hay crop. If properly 

 handled, soy beans are easy to grow and 

 rather difficult to cure if one is used to 

 "strong arm haying methods," otherwise 

 they are no harder to cure than clover 

 and alfalfa although they do take longer. 



The following are the advantages of 

 soy beans: 



(1) Can be planted after corn. Any 

 time in June. 



(2) Easy to grow if one is willing to 

 use the spike tooth harrow or the weeder. 



(3) Yield from two to three tons of 

 hay per acre which is as high in protein 

 as alfalfa. 



(4) Ready to harvest before silo filling 

 time. 



(5) Not as sensitive to acidity as some 

 of the legumes. 



(6) Will withstand more rain than 

 other legumes in curing if cocked up. 



Last year the following troubles were 

 found: 



(1) A few men tried to get too much 

 mud on the beans in inoculating. (2) 

 Failure to properly prepare the seed bed 

 and .skepticism as to the ability of the 

 beans to withstand cultivation with the 

 weeder made some fields very weedy. 



Continued on page 10, column 3 



DON'T WEAR OUT HAY 



Improved Haying Methods Decrease 

 Handling and Give Better Product 



A westerner seeing eastern farmers' 

 hay for the first time remarked, "I'd 

 think they'd wear it all out before they 

 get it into the barn." When clover, soy 

 beans and alfalfa are treated the same 

 as most farmers treat witch grass, red top 

 and timothy, the resulting hay is worn 

 out before it is put into the mow. It is 

 a fact that from 40 to GOCr of the weight 

 of alfalfa is in the leaves. These also 

 carry four-fifths of the protein and three- 

 fourths of the nitrogen-free extract. The 

 stems contain what is left which is three- 

 fourths of the crude fibre. Clover and 

 alfalfa with a large percentage of the 

 leaves lost in curing admirably fills the 

 darkey's description of near beer — "It 

 looks like it, tastes like it but lacks the 

 authority." 



It has been shown that clover, soy 

 beans and alfalfa can be cured economi- 

 cally with very little loss of leaves. 

 Roughly speaking, while the plant is alive 

 the leaves draw moisture, laden with plant 

 food, from the roots. The moisture is 

 given off and the plant food is built into 

 organic matter. When the plant is cut, 

 the leaves continue to draw moisture 

 from the stems if they are not dried out 

 quickly. In the curing of legumes this 

 fact should be kept in mind as it is an 

 almost hopeless job to try to cure the 

 stems if the leaves have been killed quick- 

 ly. 



For best results the legumes should be 

 cut in the evening or in the morning after 

 the dew is off. As soon as the plants be- 

 gin to wilt, the tedder or the side delivery 

 rake is used to turn the swaths over. 

 Then before the leaves are too wilted the 

 crop is raked. The side delivery rake 

 does a splendid job and is one of 

 the best haying tools ever invented. It 

 tends to rake the leaves on the inside 

 where they will do the most good and 

 leaves the stems exposed to the sun. By 

 raking in mid afternoon a lot of heat is 

 conserved in partially cured hay. Unless 

 the weather looks threatening the win- 

 drows are not cocked up. The next morn- 

 ing after the dew is off the side delivery 

 rake is used to turn the windrows over. 

 In the afternoon the same operation is 

 performed and usually the following day 

 the hay is ready to go into the barn. 

 Continued on page 7, column 1 



