HAMPSHIRE 

 FARMERS' 



COUNTY^-'"" 



Ajj^-icultural 



MONTHLY ""-•• 



Vol. XIII. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., SEPTEMBER, 1928 



No. 9 



Pelissier Boosts T. B. 



Eradication Program 



Some excellent reasons why Massachu- 

 setts farmers should have their cattle T. 

 B. tested without delay were given by Mr. 

 G. Fred Pelissier of Hadley during the 

 Farm and Home Week program at the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College. 



A few good disease free cattle are more 

 profitable than a larger number of disease 

 ridden culls. Cows affected with T. B. 

 are more susceptible to other cattle di- 

 seases all of which tends to reduce milk 

 production. 



In one large area which was tested, 

 there was an average of one cow less per 

 herd after the application of the T. B. 

 test but the milk production increased one 

 gallon per herd, per day, because of the 

 better disea.se free cattle which were in- 

 troduced. 



The milk consumption of the city of 

 Baltimore increased 2h million gallons in 

 one year after all the cattle in the area 

 supplying the city were tested. 



It has been Mr. Pelissier's experience 

 that cows are worth 2.5'^f more when T. 

 B. tested. This fact should mean much 

 to dairymen who sell some cattle from 

 time to time. 



The taxpayers of Massachusetts pay 

 $4,000,000 a year for the support of T. B. 

 hospitals without criticizing the expendi- 

 ture. Wouldn't it be more logical to get 

 rid of all tubercular cattle by applying 

 the T. B. test and thereby get rid of one 

 of the main sources by which the inmates 

 of these hospitals were infected with the 

 T. B. organism? 



The dairymen of Prince Edwrad Coun- 

 ty, Ontario found it profitable to them to 

 have the T. B. test applied to their herds 

 and stand their own losses. Profitable 

 because it brought cattle buyers to their 

 territory and because there was a greater 

 demand for their milk. 



Cattle Owners Feel Well Repaid 



Twenty counties with a total area of 

 15,000 square miles and a cattle popula- 

 tion estimated as 4.50,000, have been added 

 to the list of "modified accredited areas" 

 in the national campaign for the eradica- 

 tion of bovine tuberculosis. These coun- 

 ties are in 11 States. A modified ac- 

 credited area is one in which tuberculosis 

 has been found to affect not more than 



one-half of 1 per cent of the cattle as 

 determined by official testing, and in 

 which all animals reacting of the tuber- 

 culin test have been removed from the 

 herds. The additions to the list of ac- 

 credited areas were made public as of 

 .July 2, in amendment 2 to the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry Order 310, which also 

 announced that 10 counties in 6 different 

 States had been reaccredited, that is, the 

 counties had been modified accredited 

 areas for .3 years and had maintained sat- 

 isfactory health conditions in the herds as 

 established by retests. 



Continuod on pa^e 0. column 1 



Feeding Sprouted Oats 



Corrects Non-Breeding 



GIRLS AND BOYS AT COUNTY 



FAIR OFFERED $646..50 



With over six hundred dollars in cash 

 besides a large number of commodity 

 prizes given by merchants and organiza- 

 tions, offered as prizes on exhibits and 

 judging contests in the Youths' Depart- 

 ment of the Three County Fair next 

 month, the boys and girls in Hampshire 

 County certainly do not need to fear lack 

 of competition. 



According to present indications there 

 will be even keener competition in practi- 

 cally every department of the youths' part 

 of the show. 



With every promise of there being over 

 40 head of dairy animals exhibited by the 

 4-H Dairy club, this bids fair to be one 

 of the outstanding parts of the whole 

 junior department. 



Continued on page 7, column 2 



By L. S. RICHARDSON 



Infertility in cows and virgin heifers 

 due to functional disorders has been suc- 

 cessfully ovei-come in the dairy herd of 

 the Federal Department of Agriculture 

 by the simple expedient of feeding spi'out- 

 ed oats for varying periods of from 10 to 

 122 days. The method was first tried in 

 1923 in an experimental way by R. R. 

 Graves who is in charge of diary cattle 

 breeding investigations for the depart- 

 ment. 



In these preliminary trials, five of six 

 virgin heifers that had failed to get with 

 calf after being served repeatedly by dif- 

 ferent sires became settled with calf while 

 receiving sprouted oats in their feed. Five 

 of six non-breeding cows were also got 

 with calf after a feeding period ranging 

 from 19 to 46 days. Similar tests made 

 at the Oi'egon Experiment Station at Mr. 

 Graves' suggestion give equally favorable 

 results. 



Veda's Interested Doris, the present 

 Maryland State Junior 2-year-old Cham- 

 pion Jersey, owes her reco,rd to the dis- 

 covery of the value of sprouted oats as 

 an aid to correcting infertility. After 

 failure to get with calf to six different 

 services, she was placed on a diet of 

 sprouted oats. Ten days later she was 

 bred but failed to conceive. She was bred 

 again 19 days later while still on the feed 

 and became settled with calf from which 

 freshening she produced her State record. 

 She has since produced three calves. It 

 was necessary to feed oats only for the 

 second pregnancy. 



The favorable results which followed 

 these first trials led to the continued use 

 of the oats in the breeding herd with 

 equally good results. In fact, the oat- 

 diet is now a regular practice in the Gov- 

 ernment herd and is recommended for all 

 dairy herds where temporary or apparent 

 sterility is prevalent. 



Trials are Successful 



In a more recent trial six cows, vary- 

 ing in age from SI to 8 years, received 

 from 5 to 17 ser\'ices without conceiving. 

 After being placed on the oat diet, two 

 of the cows conceived at the first service, 

 two at the second, one at the third, and 

 Continued on page 3. column 2 



