HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 



Allen S. Leland, County Agent 



Mary Pozzi, Home Demonstration Agent 



Harold W. Eastman, County Club Agent 



Nora Foley, 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, I 

 Massachusetts, under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



"Notice of Entry" 



"Acceptance for mailing at special rates ! 

 of postage provided for in section 1103, | 

 Act of October 3, 1917. Authorized Oc- ! 

 tober 31, 1917. j 



Price, 50 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Charles W. Wade, President 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Allen S. Leland, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid 

 to Agriculture 



Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 

 Mrs. Clifton .Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 W. H. Atkins, Amherst 

 L. L. Campbell, Northampton 



POTATO AND APPLE MARKET 



With half a billion dollars or more re- 

 presented in the potato and apple crops 

 now being harvested, growers and ship- 

 pers are studying the various factors 

 which may affect their net returns. The 

 fruit market outlook is rather encourag- 

 ing, but several question marks appear on 

 the horizon of the potato situation. 



Potato Movement Light; Yields Uncertai'n 



Until most of the potatoes are out of 

 the ground and a careful estimate can be 

 made of the total quantity and the quality 

 of this year's crop the market position 

 remains uncertain. Blights, drought, 

 frosts, and other field troubles have been 

 taking their toll, with blight probably the 

 most sei'ious factor in several important 

 producing sections. Late blight became 

 general over New England about August 

 20 with the result that comparatively few 

 yields of potatoes remain green today. 

 Prospects in all of the New England 

 states except Vermont declined materially 

 during August. In Maine, as the result 

 of late blight and blackleg, prospects on 

 September 1 are 13.7% less than on Au- 

 gust 1. On the basis of September 1 con- 



ditions Maine expects a total of .34,644,000 

 bushels compared with 36,830,000 bushels 

 harvested last year and 34,572,000 bush- 

 els the five year average 1922-1926. A 

 smaller potato crop than last year seems 

 certain in Maine in spite of an 11% in- 

 crease in acreage. Blight is also present 

 in New York and Pennsylvania. About 

 11,000,000 bushels were clipped off the 

 August forecast, leaving a September 

 estimate of 400,000,000 bushels for the 

 entire country. Of that volume 276,000,- 

 000 bu.shels are expected in 19 leading 

 States which furnish most of the car-lot 

 supply during fall and winter. This is 

 not quite up to the average production 

 for those northern States, but is 25,000,- 

 000 bushels more than they had last year. 

 The October and November crop reports 

 will be watched with exceptional interest 

 this sea-son. Production in the mountain 

 region and far western States has recent- 

 ly shown marked annual gains. Most of 

 the supply, however, comes from 

 the north central and northeastern sec- 

 tions, and prospects there are for moder- 

 ate sized crops. 



Three things will hold the attention of 

 growers and handlers of potatoes during 

 the next few months: (1) the estimated 

 per capita production, (2) the keping 

 quality of the tubers, and (3) the report 

 of January 1 stocks on hand. Present 

 prospects are for a per capita of 3.3 

 bushels, compared with 3 bushels last 

 year, 2.8 in 1925, about 3.7 in 1924 and 

 1923, and 4.1 bushels in 1922. A crop of 

 400,000,000 bushels would be slightly be- 

 low normal requirements. In a year of 

 serious blight trouble it is especially diffi- 

 cult to estimate the probable loss from 

 shrinkage and decay in storage. The re- 

 port of January 1 stocks, indicating total 

 supply available until new crop potatoes 

 arrive in volume, has been an important 

 factor in determining the spring price. 

 The quality and quantity of potatoes re 

 maining on January 1 are pretty sure to 

 fix the price level after that date. 



Apple Crop Light, East 



Apples promise to be the lightest crop 

 in 20 years, with the exception of 1921. 

 Production estimates have been shrinking 

 month by month, and present prospects 

 are for only half as many apples as last 

 season. The Canadian crop also is ex- 

 pected to be relatively light, particularly 

 in British Columbia. A United States 

 commercial crop of 24,000,000 barrels is 

 about equally divided between the eastern 

 and western shipping States. Usually, 

 the East has a commercial crop about 40 

 per cent greater than that in the nine 

 Western States comprising the box apple 

 region. The balance between East and 

 West this season is simply another way 

 of saying that eastern apples are a very 

 light crop, and it may foreshadow an ex- 

 ceptionally active car-lot movement from 

 the western producing region. 



Thatcher Welcomes Friends 



Continued from page 1. column 2 

 ideas and plans for the continued pros- 

 perity of our institution and its work. 



I realize that two questions are upper- 

 most in the minds of the loyal supporters 

 of M. A. C. at any time such as this when 

 a new President is about to assume his 



j duties. One is "How will the new Presi- 

 dent get along with the people of the in- 



; stitution and of the State?" and the other 

 "What will be his policies with reference 

 to the future development of the Col- 

 leges?" 



But I hope that the very pleasant and 

 cordial reception which has been given to 

 me thus far by the trustees, faculty, 

 alumni, and friends of the College is an 

 accurate indication of the loyal and kind- 

 ly attitude which will continue to be mani- 



' fested through the coming years. 



As to my policies with reference to the 

 future of the College, I must say frankly 

 that I do not know now just what they 



1 will be. I have certain very definite con- 

 victions with reference to the importance 

 of state-supported institutions of learning 

 of collegiate grade, of the standards 

 which ought to be maintained in such in- 

 stitutions, and of the place which they 

 ought to occupy in the educational system 

 of the State. All of my collegiate and 

 professional experience, beginning with 

 my entrance as a student in the Univer- 

 sity of Nebraska in 1892, has been at in- 

 stitutions of this kind. But I recognize 

 that the opportunities and responsibilities 

 of a State Agricultural College in a high- 

 ly industrialized state like Massachusetts 

 may be very different from those of a 



■• similar institution in a purely agricultur- 

 al state such as Iowa or Nebraska. 



I have a profound conviction that in all 

 such public matters what is right will 

 eventually come to pass and a sublime 

 faith in the future of state-supported 

 education. I conceive it to be the duty of 

 the President of the College to contribute 

 the best that he can to the shaping of 

 public opinion with reference to the place 

 of the institution in the State's fi.scal and 

 educational system ; and then to help as 

 best he can to make it possible for the 

 College to fulfill the duties, responsibili- 

 ties, and opportunities of that place. 



Hence, I shall seek every possible op- 

 portunity to discuss with the faculty and 



I alumni of the College and the people of 

 the State what shall be the future of M. 

 A. C. The honorable history of the Col- 



I lege in the past, the loyalty of the alumni, 



j and the keen interest of the people of the 

 State are assets upon which I am relying 

 as the greatest possible aids in the solu- 

 tion of these problems. May I bespeak 

 your cordial interest, your open and frank 



; discussion of opinions and ideas, and your 

 kindly forbearance and sympathy as I 

 take up the tasks of the office to which 

 the Board of Trustees of the College has 

 called me. 



