FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



gaining in weight. At the time we saw 

 the pasture one part where the cows went 

 into it was pastured down to about 10 

 inches. The fui-ther half of the piece 

 was over three feet tall. Mr. Bishop 

 stated that there was more feed in the 

 pasture than when the cows were turned 

 into it. He is so well pleaspd with the 

 milk producing qualities of sweet clover 

 that he sowed 60 acres more this spring. 



The Walker-Gordon Farm at Plains- 

 boro produces certified milk. There were 

 900 cows milking at the time we were 

 there. There were 200 dry cows on 

 pasture and about 100 head of young 

 .=;tock. The help is run in gangs. A cer- 

 tain group cleans out the .stables, another 

 grooms the cows, another does the feeding 

 and one gang does the milking. The 

 milkers are paid seven cents per cow per 

 milking. The men average about seventy 

 five milkings a day. Every milking is 

 weighed and if a cow is short, the boss 

 of the gang looks her over to see that 

 she has been milked clean. All of the 

 milk is sold wholesale to distributors and 

 retails for about thirty cents a quart. 

 The barns and milk room are kept 

 scrupulously clean. 



Corn silage is the only feed crop pro- 

 duced on the farm at present. The fields 

 are let out to farmers who contract to 

 grow a certain number of tons. Alfalfa 

 hay is shipped in from Colorado. The 

 company is installing an alfalfa drier 

 which they hope will work satisfactorily. 

 It has a capacity of two tons of hay per 

 hour. 



LOUSE AND MITE CONTROL 



Various kinds of lice and the common 

 red mite are the most troublesome ex- 

 ternal parasites of poultry in New Eng- 

 land. The same treatment does not suf- 

 fice in controlling both lice and mites. 



Lice live on the fowl ; therefore treat- 

 ment for their eradication, to be effective, 

 must be applied to the fowl. 



Red mites inhabit the roosts, nests and 

 adjoining walls, visiting the fowl only to 

 feed, usually at night. Treatment for 

 their control must be applied not to the 

 fowl but to the house. 



Lice 



The ordinary hen louse is almost uni- 

 versally present in poultry flocks. It 

 spends its life upon the hens where the 

 eggs, or "nits", are laid and hatched. 



The best methods of eradication are: 



Mercurial ointment — as purchased 

 from a pharmacy. It may be mixed with 

 an equal amount of vaseline and a por- 

 tion the size of a pea applied with the 

 finger tip direct to the hen's skin be- 

 low the vent. One application suffices. 

 There is no need of putting it under the 

 wing. 



Sodium fluoride — is a more recent dis- 

 covery for louse control. It is purchased 

 as a white powder and may be effectively 



used by distributing ten or twelve .small 

 pinches of the powder throughout the 

 bird's plumage. 



Dusting — Du.st baths are of doubtful 

 value in completely eradicating lice. At 

 best, their checking influence is slight, 

 and they are a nuisance in the hou.se. 

 Lice breathe through spiracles in the 

 sides of their abdomen, and the function 

 of dust baths is to suffocate them by 

 Continuetl on pai^c s, cnlunni 1 



J 



^ritttpra 

 Jfnrlljamptmt, Haas. 



H. D, SMITH 



Hatfield, Mass. 



GRAIN, COAL, ICE 



AND 



FARM MACHINERY 



RADIO SALES AND SERVICE 



Competent repairs on all makes of Radios 



Wiring and Supplies 



Complete stock on hand at all times 



argffliis 



Noithdmpton , Mass. 



r^ 



-■\ 



LET US SUGGEST— 



For the Women Folks of the Fann Bureau 



ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD AIDS 



will help to make easier the work around home — 



Universal Electric Coffee-Percolators, 



Toasters, Waffle Irons, Water Heaters, 



Hair Curlers, Heating Pads, Heaters and Fans. 



Thai Good Hardware Store 



Foster-Farrar Company 



162 Main Street, 



Northampton, Mass. 



