FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



CLUB WORK 



HENRY 8ENFTEN IS 



POTATO CLUB CHAMPION 



Bedford Young Man Makes Profit of 

 $541.95 on Acre of Potatoes 



Henry Senften of Bedford, a sixth year 

 club member, is the potato state champion 

 for 1925. For two seasons he has spec- 

 ialized in potatoes and this year through 

 good management and the aid of high 

 prices he has made a profit of $541.95 on 

 his plot of a little more than an acre. He 

 planted Northern Grown Green Mountaca 

 Certified Potatoes on land that was Fall 

 plowed and well fertilized. The plot was 

 cultivated and sprayed frequently during 

 the summer. He reduced his labor ex- 

 pense by using his father's tractor and 

 by harvesting his potatoes with a potato 

 digger which he purchased. 



Henry is a senior in the Lexington 

 High School and plans to attend the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College. He 

 has been a member of the poultry and 

 calf clubs, President of the Bedford Gar- 

 den Club and is now the leader of the 

 Hancock School Poultry Club, of Lexing- 

 ton. He was a member of the State 

 Dairy demonstration team three years 

 ago and has exhibited both his poultry 

 and his calf at the Eastern States ex- 

 position. A few weeks ago he helped 

 make the round up in Hillsboro County, 

 N. H., a .success. 



Following are a few extracts from his 

 four page story. 



"This year I determined to raise a 

 crop of potatoes that would be equal to 

 that which the Maine potato growers 

 raise. I chose for my plot a well drain- 

 ed piece of land that had all the qualities 

 desirable for raising potatoes. I plowed 



the land in the Fall to a depth of eleven 

 inches. Fortunately my father let me 

 have the use of our tractor for all of my 

 work which was done on my field provid- 

 ing I did it in my spare time. During 

 the Winter and Spring I bought and 

 spread twelve loads of manure which I 

 harrowed well into the ground with three 

 harrows behind the tractor. I furrowed 

 my land into ninety-nine rows, 36 inches 

 apart. My seed came from Maine and 

 was bought through the Farm Bureau. 

 The first time I cultivated I went deep 

 and each time after I decreased the 

 depth. I sprayed my potatoes at least 

 six times, as I wanted to make sure that 

 the bugs and other insects wouldn't eat 

 up my plants. My motto is, 'An ounce 

 of prevention is worth a bag of protec- 

 tion.' About the 15th of September I 

 dug my first potatoes with a machine 

 which I bought at wholesale. I turned 

 up a large amount of potatoes but to my 

 dismay many of the best ones were rotten. 

 Before storing them I made sure that all 

 the potatoes were absolutely dry so that 

 they would not spoil. I delivered my 

 orders each Saturday afternoon in a Ford 

 truck belonging to my father. Most of 

 my customers were people who had pur- 

 chased from me last year. This has been 

 my best year in club work. I was elected 

 President of our club and have helped the 

 members complete their requirements so 

 that we might have a banner club. With 

 the money I have made I expect to attend 

 M. A. C." 



by the club members after which they 

 played dodge ball until the judges were 

 ready to announce the winners. It was 

 found that Lewis West of Hadley had 

 won because of giving better reasons al- 

 though three other boys were very close 

 to him. 



DAIRY TOUR A SUCCESS 



uoaiu '^' Mn-Hc Visited 



had zinc covered table or drain board ' 



had castors on kitchen table 



had purchased new Maytag washing 



machine (gasoline motor) 



had re-arranged small equipment. 



4-H CLUB EGG LAYING CONTEST ENDS 



84 Boys and Girls Compete 



.June 1st brought to a close the annual 

 egg laying conte.st for 4-H club members 

 which .started November first, and saw 

 eighty-four boys and girls sending in 

 from one to seven reports on how their 

 flocks were laying. As many of these 

 boys and girls reported only once or 

 twice we find that the average period re- 

 ported was three and one-half months. 



These members reported a total of 

 2,131 hens or an average of twenty-five 

 hens per flock. During this period of 

 three and one-half months 82,754 eggs 

 were laid or 6,896 dozen which at an 

 average price of fifty-five cents per dozen 

 are worth $3,792.80. 



In deciding on the winners for the con- 

 test the only ones considered were those 

 that had reported five or more months, 

 the figures showing the average per 

 month for the period covered. 



Flocks of less than forty birds 



J o 



a R 



' TRUTHFUL DEATH CERTIFICATES 



' Some day we will tell the truth in the 

 leath certificates and the reports will be 



ade out like this: 



"Died after thirty years of overeat- 



g." 



"Smothered himself to death; worked 

 jnd .slept in unventilated room." 



"Poisoned by his wife; who used wrong 

 rooking methods." 



"Burned out; slept only six hours a 

 light." 



"Killed by high living." 



Good health is a luxury that all of us 

 2an enjoy if we are willing to play the 

 game on a long law of averages. 



— London Life Magazine. 



ha 



Joe Newman, Hatfield 5 mos. 



Phillip Ives, Amherst 7 mos. 



Lovett Peters, Amh'st 6 mos. 

 (^John Cernak, Hatfield 7 mos. 

 f: Flocks of more than forty 

 fHenry Randall, 



Granby 7 mos. 



LWalter Phelon, 

 S Blandford 7 mos. 



Robert Barr, 

 C Huntington 6 mos. 



George Rogaleu.ski, 

 ti Hatfield 5 mos 



the Jersey farm of Ellis Harlow of North 

 Amherst where we saw one of the finest 

 herds of Jerseys to be seen anywhere. 

 Here a class of four Jerseys were judged 



i] Chiinipion.s bo to ('nni|> 



11 Continufd from pase 1. column 2 



a possibility of his entering Massachu- 



jsetts Agricultural College this fall as a 



jystudent. We are all sorry to lose Her- 

 man as a club member but appreciate and 



jadmire his desire for a higher education. 



Jn this, his activities as a 4-H club mem- 

 ber have helped greatly in laying a broad 



jfoundation on which to build while at 



jiollege. 



Amy Oberempt of Easthampton was 



cthe canning champion. Amy is one of the 

 leading members in the canning club of 

 over fifty members in her town. Last 

 fall at the Three-County Fair many peo- 

 ple saw her exhibit of canning and had a 



