LIBP 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 

 FARMERS' MONTHLY 



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Agricultural 

 CGliegc. 



Vol. XIII. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1928 



No. 11 



R. C. Turner of Enfield 



Gro ws 385 Bu. Per Acre 



In a year when growing conditions for 

 potatoes were not entirely favorable and 

 when late blight was prevalent generally 

 it is gratifying to find a grower who pro- 

 duced 385 bushels per acre. This is the 

 yield on the acre which R. C. Turner of 

 Enfield had entered in the 300 Bushel 

 Potato Club. The following story of how 

 he did it was given to the county agent 

 by Mr. Turner. 



The land on which the potatoes were 

 gro%vn is a medium loam and was in pota- 

 toes in 1923. The following two years it 

 was in garden crops and was spring seed- 

 ed in 1926 to clover and timothy after 

 being limed at the rate of two tons per 

 acre. Incidently, there was no scab on 

 the potatoes dug this fall. One crop of 1 



hay was removed in 1926 and in .July 1927 

 a heavy crop of clover in full bloom was 

 turned under. The land was immediately 

 seeded to oats which made a growth of 8 

 inches and prevented soil erosion during 

 the winter and spring. These oats also 

 added organic matter to the soil when 

 they were turned under 9 inches deep in 

 the spring of 1928. The only harrowing 

 done before putting in the crop was to 

 run over it twice with a spike tooth har- 

 row to break clods and level the surface. 

 The seed stock was Maine certified 

 Green Mountains which were soaked in 

 Corrossive Sublimate 30 minutes and laid 

 out to green. The seed was cut in 2 oz. 

 pieces a day or two previous to planting. 

 The planter, which was automatic picker 

 type, was set to put the seed pieces 142 

 inches apart in the row with the rows 3 

 feet apart. Seed pieces were planted 3 



CnntiniK-'l on page 2. column 3 



Thanksgiving Dinner 



Planned for Cliildren 



Where there are children in the family 

 — and what family does not have children 

 at the Thanksgiving dinner. — the menu 

 should be planned with this in mind, and 

 decoi-ations chosen to please the younger 

 members of the family as well as the 

 grown-ups. Let the children help with 

 the table decorations. Even the little 

 children will enjoy it. 



A hollowed out pumpkin or crooked 

 neck squash makes an attractive begin- 

 ning for the centerpiece. This may be 

 filled with apples, carrots, oranges, 

 grapes and pears. Laurel, wintergreen, 

 or partridge berry leaves may be tucked 

 in to give a green contrast. Little ferns 

 with their roots, brought in from the 



Continued on pag^e 5. column 2 



I'ART OF THE IS.T PEOPLE WHO ATTEND THE EXTENSION SERVICE ANNVAL, .MEETING 



REV. KENNETH C. MacARTHUR GIVES INSPIRING ADDRESS 



An address on the "Rewards of Rural 

 Leadership" by Rev. Kenneth C. Mac- 

 Arthur of Sterling, Mass. was the out- 

 standing feature of the annual meeting 

 of the Hampshire County E.xtension Ser- 

 vice. This meeting was attended by 125 

 people representing most of the towns in 

 the county and was held in Odd Fellows 

 Hall, Northampton on November 16. 



Pres. Wade of Hatfield gave a few 

 words of welcome and the secretary's and 

 treasurer's reports were read. The re- 



ports of the agents occupied most of the 

 time during the morning session. Be- 

 cause of lack of space in this issue the 

 complete reports of the agents will be 

 printed in the December Farmers' Month- 



ly. 



The new assistant agent. Miss Blanche 

 Spurr of Southboro, who will help both 

 Miss Pozzi and Mr. Eastman was intro- 

 duced to the group by Pres. Wade. 



Mr. George Farley gave one of his 

 usual peppy talks on club work. FoUow- 



his talk a group of women from Belcher- 

 town put on a humorous yet very affective 

 playlet entitled "Making Over the Living 

 Room to Suit Father." The dinner was 

 sen'ed by the Northampton Grange and 

 it was up to their usual high standards 

 of quantity and quality. After dinner a 

 second playlet was put on but this time 

 by a group of women from Huntington. 

 This play was entitled "Obadiah Criti- 

 cizes His Wife." 



Continued on page 10, column 1 



