THE FARMERS' MONTHLY, DECEMBER, 1927 



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 



Noi-a 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, 

 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. 



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 



THREE COUNTY FAIR 



The one-hundred and ninth annual 

 meeting of the Three County Fair Asso- 

 ciation was held Saturday, December 3. 



The Treasurer's report which was read 

 and given to each member present was 

 encouraging to say the least. For several 

 years previous to 1927 this fair has run 

 into very discouraging weather but this 

 year was blessed with three days of as 

 good weather as one could wish, and up- 

 held the belief of many of the officers 

 that a good fair run right can live even 

 if it comes at the end of the fair season 

 and has as a close neighbor the larger 

 Eastern States E.xposition. 



At the time the Exposition was started 

 in 1916 and nearly every year since then, 

 many people have forecast that the days 

 of the Three County Fair were numbered. 

 To encourage these pessimistic forecasts, 

 year after year saw rainy weather for 

 one or more days cut down the attendance 

 and lower the money in the treasurery 

 in spite of their having a good fair. 



This year, however, under the efficient 

 management of the officers, led by Presi- 

 dent Josiah Parsons, a good fair was put 

 on and was seen by the largest crowd 

 since 1921. 



There are many features that helped to 

 make this a good year in addition to the 

 weather. One of them is the advertising 

 that the fair received beforehand. Possi- 

 bly the best advertising stunt was the 

 sale of season tickets all over the county. 

 Through offering these tickets for sale in 

 nearly every town in the county many 

 people had it called to their attention 

 whether or not they bought one of the 

 tickets. 



This is the first year it has been tried, 

 but it is safe to say that it will not be the 

 last. What better rain insurance could 

 any fair have that an advanced sale or 

 from three to five-thousand season tickets 

 at one dollar each. 



Another contributing feature is the fair 

 President. It would be impossible to find 

 a man who could or would give more time, 

 energy and thought to the welfare or any 

 organization than Mr. Parsons gave to 

 the Cattle Show this year. Ever since 

 his election last December, "Joe" has been 

 planning, talking and working toward its 

 success. But, of course, one man could 

 not do it alone. The other officers, the 

 Newspapers, Chamber of Commerce, 

 townspeople and farmers all working to- 

 gether helped make this year one of the 

 best the Hampshire, Franklin, Hampden 

 Agricultural Society has had for some 

 time. 



Annual Extension Meeting 



Continued from page 1. column 2 



Report of Home Demonstration 

 Agent 



Miss Pozzi, the Home Demonstration 

 Agent reported that she has groups of 

 women in every community. There were 

 42 clubs in the county with 834 women en- 

 rolled and 791 of these completed the 

 work. 



Work was done with groups in Cloth- 

 ing, Home Management and Food Se- 

 lections. Tied and Dyed Work or Hat 

 Making was used to gain the interest of 

 the groups. One of Miss Pozzi's plans 

 for next year is to have a camp for her 

 women next summer. 



County Agent's Report 



Mr. Leland reported work done in the 

 following projects: (1) Agronomy; (2) 

 Farm Management; (4) Fruit Growing; 

 (5) Poultry. In agronomy, men were 

 shown how and why to grow legumes, 

 particularly alfalfa and sweet clover. The 

 value of top dressing hay land was stress- 

 ed. Experimental plots as to the value of 

 top dressing were put on in Chesterfield 

 and Worthington. The proper use of 

 lime has increased onions yields almost 

 without exception. On an average of 22 

 different fields the yields increased from 

 208 bags per acre on very sour soils to 

 291 bags per acre on only slightly acid 

 soils. 



In the Animal Husbandry project most 

 of the work was in an effort to rid herds 



of bovine tuberculosis. Mr. Payne did 

 most of this work and as a result three 

 towns have over 85% tested or under test 

 the others where he worked having over 

 719^ tested. 



The Cow Testing Association was car- 

 ried on with 37 farmers during the past 

 year and these herds are producing well 

 above the state average. 



In Farm Management the poultry re- 

 ports were of especial interest with about 

 twenty-two men reporting. In the flocks 

 below 500, Hampshire County flocks plac- 

 ed first, second, fourth and fifth in yearly 

 production including flocks over the entire 

 state. Harold C. Booth of Belchertown 

 placed third with flocks over 1000 birds. 



In Fruit Growing the county agent co- 

 operated with the Hampshire County 

 Fruit Growers Association. Particular 

 emphasis was placed on the elimination 

 of the little green apple through proper 

 pruning, spraying and thinning. 



In Poultry, stress was put on range 

 rotation and sanitation throughout the 

 entire year. 



During the year the agent made 726 

 farm visits and held 74 different meetings 

 with a total attendance of 2017. 



Club Agent's Work 



Mr. Eastman went into his method of 

 getting clubs started by going to the 

 schools to talk to the boys and girls. The 

 local leader is sometimes difficult to find 

 but he has had very good cooperation in 

 this county, particularly from the agri- 

 cultural instructors in the schools. 



The Garden Clubs included 226 boys 

 and girls from 11 towns with paid super- 

 visors taking charge in a few towns. 

 Easthampton had the largest number with 

 100 enrolled in the club. 



The Dairy Clubs had 75 boys and girls 

 from all over the county. They owned 

 120 animals of which 105 were pure breds. 

 Nineteen of the boys owned between them 

 35 milking cows. Twenty-three of the 

 boys took 28 animals to the Eastern 

 States Exposition and won $700.00 in 

 prize money. Boys from this county com- 

 peted in nine contests for the showman's 

 halter at fairs all over the State and won 

 in them all. 



Tht Poultry Clubs had 110 boys enroll- 

 ed owning 3000 birds. An egg laying con- 

 test is run among the members with 

 monthly reports. The flocks are increas- 

 ing in size. The boys have shown their 

 birds at many fairs and captured their 

 share of the prizes. 



The Handicraft Clubs made articles 

 for the farm and home. The 150 boys 

 enrollment have made 500 articles. 



There were 15 Canning Clubs with 230 

 boys and girls enrolled which was nearly 

 twice as many as last year. Several of 

 the members canned at least 100 jars a 

 piece. The leading girl canned 500 jars. 



There were 260 girls enrolled in the 24 

 Clothing Clubs and they made 900 differ- 

 Continued on page 3. column 2 



