FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



CLUB WORK 



4-H CLUB EGG LAYING CONTEST 



Nearly 1,406 Dozen Eggs Produced 



Fifty-eight reports were sent in for the 

 January egg laying contest which was a 

 record on 1756 hens. The most interesting 

 feature to us is that the number of large 

 flocks are increasing, there being 19 re- 

 ported with 40 or more birds per flock. 



One rather surprising fact comes out 

 this month as well as last month, that is 

 contrary to all past beliefs, is that the 

 larger flocks are averaging more eggs per 

 bird than the smaller one. 



The figures are as follows: 



No. of No. of No. of Avr. 



Flocks Birds Eggs Per Hen 



Large flocks 19 1,104 11,237 10.2 



Small flocks 39 652 5,636 8.6 



John Cernak, Hatfield, 13 185 14.2 

 J. G. Cook, Jr., Hadley, 30 414 13.8 

 Peter McEwan, Worth- 

 i ington, 5 66 13.2 



John Jackowski, Hat- 

 ' field, 25 309 12.4 



. Roy Hanks, Enfield, 7 85 12.2 



Wayne Smith, North- 

 ampton, 11 131 11.9 

 Stanley Skorupski, 



Hatfield, 18 191 10.6 



Robert Cutter, W. 



Hatfield, 30 300 10.0 



Total 58 1,756 16,873 9.6 



The so-called yard stick for January 

 is 10 eggs per bird in order to lay 160 for 

 the year. The above figures show that the 

 large flocks average above this figure 

 while the smaller flocks were quite a bit 

 lower. 



Perhaps part of the explanation lies in 

 the fact that many of the more ambitious, 

 more capable boys are enlarging their 

 flocks and because of the greater invest- 

 ment take a greater interest in them and, 

 of course, better care of them. 



The boys to win the ribbons this month 

 are as follows (the first two in each class 

 win grain prizes besides) : 



Large Flocks 



Name Town No. of No. of Avr. 



Birds eggs per hen 



Joseph Sena, East- 



hampton, 70 1,478 21.1 



Victor Fournier, 



Northampton, 68 1,198 17.6 



H. W. Atkins, Am- 

 herst, 84 1,284 15.1 



Small Flocks 



Robert Atherton, 

 Plainfield, 



Erick Moberg, South 

 ampton, 



Anthony Blyda, Hat- 

 field, 



Henry Henriksen, So. 

 Hadley Falls, 



Gordon Cook, Hadley, 



Other flocks to average 



more per bird are as follows : 



Herman Andrews, 

 Southampton, 



Walter Granger, So. 

 Worthington, 



Erick Moberg, South- 

 ampton, 



Edgar Judd, Goshen, 



J. Arthur Gould, 

 Ware, 



Robert Beals, Goshen, 



22 

 10 

 18 



25 



7 



40 



405 18.4 



175 17.5 



310 17.2 



427 17.1 

 109 15.6 

 10 eggs or 



601 15.0 

 92 1,367 14.8 



40 



48 



84 

 45 



571 14.3 



550 11.5 



948 11.3 



476 10.6 



CLUB LEADERS MEET 



Two District Meetings Held 



Two district leaders' meetings were 

 held in February with both leaders and 

 club members present, all of them being 

 either Clothing or Handicraft leaders and 

 members. 



The first was held in Belchertown on 

 February 12 with nine leaders and six 

 club members present. Miss Marion 

 Forbes met with the clothing leaders and 

 members and talked over their problems 

 with them, while W. F. Howe showed the 

 the Handicraft leaders how to make sev- 

 eral of the articles that their members 

 would want to construct. 



In Northampton, February 26, ten 

 leaders and eight members met in the Ex- 

 tension Service rooms and had about the 

 same type of meeting except that Mildred 

 Boice, our Home Demonstration Agent, 

 took the place of Miss Forbes with the 

 Clothing leaders. 



At Belchertown the following leaders 

 were present: 



Miss Martha Conklin, Belchertown. 



Miss Helen Keyes, Bondsville. 



Miss Nellie Shea, Bondsville. 



Miss Virginia Makepeace, Bondsville. 



Miss Lucia DeSilvio, Three Rivers. 



Miss Emma D. Haines, Granby. 



Mrs. Ashley Randall, Granby. 



Miss Alice Collis, Pelham. 



The following were present at the 

 Northampton meeting : 



Mrs. L. E. Walsh, 4 Chestnut St., Am- 

 herst. 



Miss Cora Howlett, So. Amherst. 



Mrs. Caroline Scott, No. Hadley. 



Miss B. A .Ryan, Russellville, Hadley. 



Mrs. R. E. Donelson, No. Hatfield. 



Miss Regina Dembroski, No. Hatfield. 



Mrs. M. H. Dwight, W. Hatfield. 



Miss May Strong, W. Hatfield. 



Mr. J .H. Burckes, Worthington. 



Miss Katherine Slayter, People's Insti- 

 tute, Northampton. 



Hatfield Center: — A clothing club of 14 

 girls has been organized by Mrs. F. M. 

 Gifford. All of the girls are to take sec- 

 ond year work, as all had been members 

 last year. 



A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDEKT 



To the Boy Scouts, the Lone Scouts, and 

 the Four-H Clubs: 



As we go into the New Year, I send 

 you my greetings and best wishes for 

 health and happiness in the coming 

 twelves months. 



In my holiday message a year ago I 

 pointed out the many advantages of mem- 

 bership in associations such as yours. If 

 we .should try to express their principals 

 in a single word, that word, it seems to 

 me, would be "Helpfulness." You help 

 others, and you help yourselves by help- 

 ing others. 



I congratulate you on the accomplish- 

 ments of 1926, and know you will have 

 abundant opportunities for usefulness in 

 1927. We get happiness from doing our 

 duty, further happiness from doing a lit- 

 tle more than is necessary and from doing 

 things as near right as we can. 



Our communities and our country are 

 the better because of what you boys and 

 girls are, what you do, and what you will 

 mean to our social and economic life as 

 the men and women of the future. 



— Calvin Coolidge. 



COUNTY NOTES 



Huntington : — A new 4-H Poultry Club 

 is to be organized this month with about 

 ten members. Robert Barr, a High 

 School Pupil, and a 4-H club member for 

 four years, is to lead it, assisted by W. A. 

 Munson, a local poultryman. Although 

 only a few of the boys own poultry at the 

 present time, they are planning to buy 

 some chicks or hatching eggs in order to 

 get started. 



Huntington: — The town is to oe con- 

 gratulated on its Domestic Science In- 

 structor. In addition to handling her 

 regular classes. Miss Mildred Gillette, is 

 leading three 4-H Sewing clubs. One 

 made up of fifth, sixth and seventh grade 

 girls meets every Wednesday afternoon, 

 another club of eighth graders meets at 

 11.20 A. M., while a high school group 

 meets every Wednesday evening. In the 

 three groups there are 28 girls. Such a 

 spirit of service should be, and no doubt 

 is, highly commended by the townspeople. 



West Hatfield:— Wednesday evening, 

 February 23, the members of the North- 

 ampton Methodist Men's Club, together 

 with their sons, were highly entertained 

 by Joel H. Dwight, of West Hatfield, who 

 told of his trip to the National Dairy 

 Show in Detroit, Michigan, last Octo- 

 ber. Robert Cutter gave a clear and in- 

 teresting account of his experience in 

 raising and showing Baby Beef for the 

 last five years as a 4-H Club Member. 



Easthampton: — The new oflScers of the 

 Manhan Poultry club were elected at 



