FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 

 Roland A. Payne, County Agent 

 Mildred W. Boice, 



Home Demonstration Agent 

 Norman F. Wliippen, County Club Agent 

 Mary Dimond, Clerk 

 Mary Sullivan, Asst. Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9. 

 1915, at the Post Office at Northampton, 

 Massachusetts, under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



"IVotice of Entry" 

 "Acceptance for mailing at special rate 

 of postage provided for in section 1103. 

 Act of October 3, 1917. Authorized Oc- 

 tober 31. 1917. 



Price, 50 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Charles E. Clark, President 

 Charles W. Wade, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Roland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 



Charles E. Clark, Leeds 



Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 



Milton S. Howes, Cummington 



Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 



Warren M. King, Northampton 



Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



W. H. Atkins, Amherst 



L. L. Campbell, Northampton 



CONCERNING MESSAGES 



Sometimes men say "I've been trying 

 to get you for a week." This shows that 

 their method is faulty. Call up North- 

 ampton 53. If the agent you want to 

 speak to is not in, tell the clerk that 

 answers the phone what's on your mind. 

 Since there are 3000 farm families in this 

 county, it is not at all unlikely that some- 

 body has had the same problem that con- 

 fronts you. Often the clerk can give you 

 an answer to your question immediately. 

 If not, she will put a note on the agent's 

 desk telling all about it. If urgent, give 

 your telephone number and the agent will 

 call as soon as he or she comes in. It 

 gets the clerk's goat to have a nameless, 

 uncommunicative person call up and say 

 "I'll call again." If you want efficiency 

 in service tell the clerk. 



COUNTY NOTES 



Checking up the Chicks 



"If I have trouble with my chicks I 

 check up the things that I am doing to see 

 where I have gone wrong" we were re- 

 cently told by one of the successful poul- 

 trymen of this county. This man buys 

 good chicks. Then he knows that any 

 trouble that develops is up to him. By 

 checking on his brooder temperatures, his 



supply of green feed, his methods of feed- 

 ing milk, grain, mash and cod liver oil, 

 he is able to spot the source of trouble 

 quickly. This means that he has very 

 little wrong with his flock. This year he 

 lost less than five per cent of his chicks 

 up to three weeks of age. Faulty brood- 

 er temperatures, improper ventilation, 

 improper feeding and failure to keep the 

 chick's bowels open are some of the things 

 that kill as many chickens as bacillary 

 white diarrhea. 



Looks are Often Deceiving 

 La.st year a local dealer had samples of 

 certified Grimm alfalfa and of "Northern 

 grown Montana" seed. He had a sample 

 of each in his desk. Both were clean, 

 plump seed and looked exactly alike. He 

 said that he had come to the conclusion 

 that since he could not tell the difference 

 that the only safe thing to do was to 

 handle only certified Grimm seed. At the 

 present time practically all of the dealers 

 in this county are carrying this seed 

 which is Certified by the state of Idaho. 

 It is the best that money can buy. If 

 your local dealer does not or will not 

 carry this brand, the County Agent will 

 be glad to tell you where you can buy it. 



As Regards Jockeys 



"I have traded with horse jockeys and 

 with cow jockeys, but the chick jockey 

 has them all beaten" we were told by a 

 man of wide experience. This statement 

 was occasioned by a man who thought 

 that he was buying chickens free from 

 baccillary white diarrhea but an autopsy 

 showed that the chicks were badly af- 

 fected. Correspondence developed the 

 fact that the man shipping the chicks had 

 had a neighbor hatch them for him. Ap- 

 parently the neighbor substituted eggs 

 also with the result that about half of the 

 chicks died. Experiences of this kind 

 strengthen the argument for buying cer- 

 tified chicks. 



Some Better Than Others 



An old soldier once remarked that all 

 whiskey was good but that some kinds 

 were better than others. This is true of 

 the alfalfa started last year. From 

 present indications it looks as though our 

 knowledge about this crop was increasing. 

 Alfalfa seeded in corn, particularly 

 heavy stands of ensilage, are thin and 

 none too good. Seeded in oats the same 

 is true. If seeded alone before the weeds 

 were properly killed the alfalfa is weak 

 in the weedy spots. We have come to the 

 conclusion that the best stands are ob- 

 tained where alfalfa is seeded without a 

 nurse crop on a properly prepared seed 

 bed. Lime, manure and acid phosphate 

 (or complete fertilizer), Grimm seed and 

 proper inoculation has brought alfalfa 

 through a mighty hard winter. Alfalfa 

 can be grown successfully here if we do it 

 right. If you are planning to put in al- 

 falfa it may save disappointment if you 

 talk to the County Agent. 



What Do You Mean, "Certified" 



The law term "Caveat Emptor" means 

 "let the buyer beware." It would be a 

 fine label to put on certain brands of 

 chicks that are now sold as "Certified." 

 In some states certification means that 

 the chicks simply come from flocks that 

 have been culled by an expert. The term 

 carries no assurance as regards freedom 

 from Bacillary White Diarrhea. In 

 other states "certification" goes a step 

 further and twenty per cent of the breed- 

 ing stock is tested for baccillary white 

 diarrhea. If this part of the flock tests 

 free the flock is "certified." This is a 

 step in advance but it offers a fine chance 

 for un.scrupulous persons to slip some- 

 thing over. 



In this state we are fortunate in having 

 a group of poultrymen with a long name 

 which sells "certified" chicks that are the 

 best that money can buy. To become 

 eligible for membership in this associa- 

 tion, a man's entire flock must pass two 

 clean tests for Bacillary White Diarrhea. 

 Then an expert culls the flocks and only 

 those birds that pass his rigid inspection 

 are certified. In this way Massachusetts 

 Certified Chicks are free from Bacillary 

 White Diarrhea and are from breeding 

 stock that shows high production. They 

 cost more than common chicks but they 

 are the cheapest source of chicks in the 

 world. 



It Makes a Difference 



The last of April we called on Leon 

 Fowles of Southampton to see if his al- 

 falfa had lived through the winter. "I 

 thought you said Grimm was better than 

 common alfalfa" he said. We agreed 

 that he was right in his statement. He 

 then showed a field where half was sown 

 with Grimm the other half with northern 

 grown Montana seed. We agreed that 

 the north half of the piece was by far 

 the best. "Well that is the Grimm" he 

 said. Anyone that thinks that there is 

 no difference should look this piece over. 

 The common has done fairly well but it 

 is not half as good as the Grimm. Mr. 

 Fowles knows what kind of seed to buy 

 in the future. 



White Pine Blister Rust 



In order to prevent the spread of white 

 pine blister rust the State Department of 

 Agriculture has recently issued the fol- 

 lowing order: "In accordance with the 

 authority provided by Section 27, Chapter 

 128, General laws, the sale, transporta- 

 tion, or further planting of currant and 

 gooseberry bushes is hereby prohibit- 

 ed — ." This order applies to the towns 

 of Belchertown, Chesterfield, Huntington 

 and Worthington. For further informa- 

 tion regarding the control of white pine 

 blister rust write to: Ralph E. Wheeler, 

 Blister Rust Control Agent, Hampden 

 County League, West Springfield, Mass. 



