FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 



Roland A. I'ayne, County Agent 

 Hildrcd W. Boice, 



Home Uenionstrntion Agent 

 Hnrold \V. Ewstnian, County Club Agent 

 Catlierine Liioey, Clerk 

 Helen Clark. 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. 



"Notiee 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, no 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. Camphell, Northampton 



MISS ERHARD HONORED 



The people of the county who have been 

 interested in Club Work in the past few 

 years will be pleased to hear of the mar- 

 riage of Bena G. Erhard to William P. 

 Suzan of Hyannis. Miss Erhard's un- 

 tiring energy and her boundless enthusi- 

 asm for club work endeared her to the 

 club members and their parents during 

 the four years that she was Club Agent 

 in this county. Her efforts as Club 

 Agent on Cape Cod have won her a host 

 of friends on the Cape. In recognition 

 of the excellet work that she has done 

 with club members, a gold medal was pre- 

 sented Mrs. Suzan at the Union Agricul- 

 tural meetings, held recently at Worces- 

 ter, by the State Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



HOLSTEIN CLUB ELECTS OFFICERS 



About fifty members and friends of the 

 Hamp.shire-Franklin HoLstein Friesian 

 Breeders Club attended the annual meet- 

 ing held at the Mansion House, Green- 

 field, Saturday, .January 8. Officers 

 elected for 1927 were: President, Enos 



Montague, Amherst; Vice Presidents, 

 Harvey Copeland, Colrain; E. P. West, 

 Hadley; Secretary-Treasurer, G .Fred 

 Pelissier, Hadley; Executive Committee, 

 T. R .Elder, Northfield; Auditors, C. E 

 Clark, Leeds ; L. A. Polhemus, Northfield, 

 and Roger Warner, Sunderland. 



Dr. M. F. Barnes of Pennsylvania ex- 

 plained the plan used in his state for the 

 eradication of contagious abortion in cat- 

 tle. This calls for blood testing of all 

 cattle, the elimination of the reactors 

 from the herd, and in sanitary measures. 

 At present one hundred and fifty herds 

 ai'e carrying on this work. Vaccination 

 has been tried but has shown no value. 

 So called abortion cures also have been 

 tried and have been found to be useless. 

 One of these was found to contain only 

 bran and brown sugar. Experiments 

 have shown that no cures can be aff'ected 

 by feeding materials to cows. The Penn- 

 sylvania plan is to locate reactors by 

 means of a blood test. Reacting animals 

 are either isolated or removed from the 

 herd. No new animals are added to the 

 herd till they have passed a clean test, and 

 then only two weeks after calving. Young 

 stock even from reacting cows is usually 

 free from infectious abortion. 



ROUGH ON RATS 



War has been declared by the forces of 

 .science on rats, woodchucks, field mice, 

 and other animal pests of New England. 

 Annually, $300,000,000 are lost to the 

 farmers of the United States from rav- 

 ages of the various pests. 



E. M. Mills, rodent control specialist 

 from the United States Bureau of Bio- 

 logical Survey, is now preparing a spring 

 and summer campaign of eradication 

 or control of pests. His headquarters are 

 located at Pernald Hall, Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, Amherst. He asks 

 that all those having trouble from these 

 sources write him at this address. 



At the present time Mr. Mills is mak- 

 ing a study of rodent conditions as they 

 exist in Massachusetts and other New 

 England states and is laying plans for 

 the active control measures which will be 

 launched in the spring. 



AGROSPECTS 



Growing Potatoes in Hampshire County 



Growing potatoes in this here county 

 Is working mighty hard for nature's 



bounty. 

 It's a job of lifting from start to fini.sh 

 And so much to consider lest the profits 



dimini.sh. 

 There's fitting the land; best plow in the 



fall, 

 Especialy if its sod and that gets the call. 

 Then harrow it and work it in first class 



shape, 

 Whether it be in Berkshire or Worcester, 



or down on the Cape. 



Most any one knows that potatoes have 

 to be fed. 



So something must be added to the good 

 seed bed. 



Some use manure and a little "phosphate" 



But others keep manure from spud's pal- 

 ate. 



And use a complete mixture like a five- 

 eight-seven 



In varying hundreds from twenty down 

 to eleven. 



Quality they get and a good early start. 



And maybe less of this here "false-heart." 



Yes sir! you bet! good seed is certified 



For with mosaic and leaf roll it isn't all 

 pied. 



Too much depends on the kind of seed, 



To use poor stuff that's the cull of the 

 breed. 



Now, while you're waiting for the seed to 

 sprout 



It's mighty good time to knock the weeds 

 out. 



With a roller and harrow and some dis- 

 cretion 



You can face your neighbor without con- 

 fession, 



That the weeds got ahead while you was 

 hayin'. 



And you didn't get a chance to do the 

 slayin'. 



The hoe's all right to fuss around garden 

 sass, 



But for corn and potatoes it'll no longer 

 pass. 



It's production we're after and reduction 

 of cost 



And the man with the hoe is bound to be 

 lost. 



Bugs and blights then have their days. 



But not on the vines that are covered 

 with sprays. 



Once ain't enough, and don't count for 

 much, 



For the pests of the potato sure beat the 

 Dutch. 



They come and they come when you least 

 expect, 



And soon knock the crop into retrospect 



So spraying and dust is insurance for a 

 crop 



And keeps off the critters that chew and 

 hop. 



There's a lot more to it than what is said 

 here, 



But these are the high spots brought out 

 clear. 



There's books and bulletins full of potato 

 lore. 



And they ought to be read at least once or 

 more. 



To add to the experience that one man at- 

 tains 



For farming today is brawn plus brains. 



Spec. 



Appendix 



From up in Maine to way out in Cali- 

 fornia 



There's them that soaks seeds for scab 

 and Rhizoctonia 



