FARMERS' MONTHLI 



tlBRAPy of the 

 Massachusetts 

 1 .^ 1927 



•^ultural 

 ullege. 



OF HAMPSHIRE COUINTY 



Vol. XII. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JUNE, 1927 



No. 6 



PROGRESS IN T. B. TESTING 



Methods used in Recent Area Tests 



In the western part of the county the 

 eradication of bovine tuberculo.si.s is not 

 an individual proposition, it is a communi- 

 ty project. Practically all of the cattle 

 in Huntington, Chesterfield, Goshen and 

 Cummington have been signed up for the 

 test. One-third of the cattle in Worthing- 

 ton were signed up the last of May and it 

 is expected that the rest will come in be- 

 fore the end of June. By fall it is ex- 

 pected that there will be very few herds 

 in these towns that are not on the way to- 

 ward being "federal accredited." 



To become "federal accredited" a herd 

 must pass two yearly or three semi- 

 annual tuberculin tests without reactors. 

 A large part of the herds already in these 

 towns passed clean on recent tests. Some 

 herds had one or two reacting cattle. A 

 very few herds were found to be badly 

 infected. The latter herds were composed 

 of cattle which had been purchased rather 

 than raised. When a herd passes the first 

 test without reactors it is not tested for a 

 year. When a herd has reactors it is 

 tested every six months until no reactors 

 are found and then is tested once a year. 



Disinfection Important 



After the reactors are removed, the 

 stalls and mangers where these animals 

 .stood have to be cleansed and disinfected. 

 The majority are cleaning all of the stalls 

 and mangers and then whitewashing the 

 entire stable. Owners are putting extra 

 windows in some of the stables so as to 

 furni.sh the cattle with better light and 

 ventilation. One of the encouraging things 

 in the eradiction of bovine tuberculosis is 

 the willingness of most of the cattle 

 owners to improve the conditions under 

 which cattle are housed. This in itself is 

 a great step toward eradicating the di- 

 sease. 



The general feeling among those who 

 had reactors was that they were glad to 

 get rid of them. They felt that in time 

 these animals would endanger the health 

 of the entire herd. They feel that it is 

 better to take a slight loss now rather 

 than a heavy one later on. 



Reactors are Identified 



Reacting cattle are identified by a re- 

 actor tag in the left ear and by branding 

 a letter "T" on the left cheek. Reactoi's 

 can only be sold for immediate slaughter. 

 Identified as they are there is no possibili- 

 Continued on page 2, column 2 



FUNNY 



A popular writer sometime ago pointed 

 out that there are two kinds of "funny." 

 The first is "funny" — peculiar ; the second 

 is "funny" — ha-ha. It is "funny" of the 

 first kind that in a herd of ten head of 

 cattle recently tested for T. B. that all 

 four of the cows purchased within the 

 past two months should be reactors. It 

 raises the question whether .somebody 

 knew more about these cows before they 

 sold them than they let on. 



At the present time a lot of herds are 

 being tested. A few men who must have 

 good reason to suspect that their cows are 

 T. B. are selling off their herds and then 

 replacing them with tested cattle. Under 

 present conditions buyers would do well 

 to insist on having cows tested before they 

 purchase. Sooner or later all of the cattle 

 in Hampshire County will be tested. 

 Buying tested cows will reduce future 

 losses. 



HAY MAKING-1927 



QUALITY FIRST 



Much has been spoken and written in 

 favor of better roughage feed on the 

 dairy farm. A great deal of interest has 

 been directed toward the value of in- 

 creasing production; more clover and 

 more alfalfa. As yet these crops make 

 up a relatively small proportion of the 

 total hay crop. 



Getting quality of I'oughage is not alone 

 a matter of acreage of legume crops. 

 Mostly its a matter of handling the total 

 hay crop so that all the qualities of good- 

 ness may be obtained and retained so far 

 as is practicable. Plenty of plant food, 

 including nitrogen, plays a part in this. 

 Labor and weather are items of import- 

 ance too but even so it seems possible that 

 one can start out with the idea of making 

 as good hay as is possible, instead of 

 accumulating a lot of material that serves 

 primarily as bulk or stuffing. 



As before mentioned labor supply and 

 weather play a large part in the haying 

 program. With considerable acreage to 

 be cut and lack of modern haying 

 machinery an early beginning is neces- 

 sary. The sacrifice in possible yield will 

 probably be more than made up by the 

 quality of the total crop. Maturity or 

 degree of development is a good indi- 

 Continued on page 8. column 1 



FARMER'S WEEK AT M. A. C. 



Many new and interesting facts on 

 changing farm conditions arc in store for 

 visitors at the annual Farm and Home 

 Week program, to be held .July 26-29, at 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 

 Amherst, according to Earle S. Carpenter, 

 general supervisor of arrangements for 

 the week. 



Dairymen, cash crop farmei-s, livestock 

 men, beekeepers, fruit men, and home 

 makers will have an opportunity to hear 

 their problems discussed by .some of the 

 best authorities in the country today. 



Massachusetts poultrymen will hold 

 their annual summer meeting at the agri- 

 cultural college the previous week, July 

 20-21. This change in the poultry meeting 

 is due to the fact that the World Poultry 

 Congress will meet in Ottawa, Canada, 

 .July 26-29. 



Program Opens Tuesday 



Home makers, fruit growers, and 

 tobacco men will open their programs 

 Tuseday morning. The tobacco program 

 will be concluded Tuesday, while the fruit 

 growers' program will extend through 

 Wednesday; the home makers' program 

 continuing throughout the four days. 



The livestock and home gardeners will 

 open their meetings Wednesday morning, 

 July 27; the latter program extending 

 through Thursday and Friday morning, 

 the former program completed on 

 Wednesday. 



Thursday, July 28, will .see the begin- 

 ning of the home food preservation pro- 

 gram, which continues through Friday 

 morning. Tuesday and Wednesday morn- 

 ings the food preservation laboratory will 

 be open to fruit growers visiting at the 

 college. Beekeepers and dairymen will 

 their programs on Thursday, the bee- 

 keepers completing theirs the same day, 

 and the dairymen discussing cash crops in 

 dairy farming on Friday. 



President Lewis to Speak 



General evening programs are being 

 prepared for Wednesday and Thui-sday 

 evenings. 



President Edward M. Lewis, who leaves 

 M. A. C. in September to take the presi- 

 dency of the Universiey of New Hamp- 

 shire, will give his farewell talk to Massa- 

 chusetts farmers and home makers on 

 Wednesday evening. 



Dallas Lore Sharp, well known as an 

 Continued on page 3. column 1 



