HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Continued from page 2, column 3 

 when the orchard will reach the period 

 of maximum production. 



Leaving the fillers in too long will not 

 only retard the development of the 

 oichard but by .shading out the lower 

 branche.? it will force the tree.s to grow 

 upward. A large percentage of our 

 high-headed orchards are high because 

 the trees stand so close together that they 

 have to grow upward if they grow at all. 

 If they have plenty of room vigorous 

 trees of most varieties of apples will 

 spread until the tips of the lower 

 branches come very close to the ground 

 even if the trees are headed five or six- 

 feet high when they are set; but if trees 

 are crowded it is next to impossible to 

 keep the tops low. 



When filler trees seem to be interfering 



in any way with peimanent trees by all 



means cut out or move out the fillers. 



— R. A. VanMeter, Ext. Specialist in 



Pomology, M. A. C. 



THREE COUNTY FAIR 



October 4, 5, 6, 1921 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



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Market Garden Notes 



The peculiar season is having a telling 

 effect on many vegetable crops. Yields 

 are not equal to what they might have 

 been under circumstances. The onion 

 crop of the Connecticut Valley is one of 

 the smallest that has been known for 

 years, due to damage from unsuitable 

 weather and thrips. 



Several home gardeners report that 

 there is a very small crop of potatoes 

 under their vines, even where the growth 

 above ground has been a good one. I 

 wonder if this condition is general? The 

 i-ate at which the potato market has been 

 moving of late indicates that it may be. 

 Local potatoes have recently been whole- 

 saling in the Boston market at $2..50 a 

 bushel. 



Continued trcnu page 1. coluinii :i 

 Middlefield 



The second annual field day picnic was 

 held by the local grange and the "Farm 

 Bureau" together with a reunion of the 

 Pease Family at the farm of Arthur 

 Pease. Practically every family in Mid- 

 dlefield was repre.sented so the aff"air 

 ■urely took in the whole community. 

 The morning was spent in meeting the 

 other fellow and with sports for the 

 younger people. At noon every one sat 

 down to one of those old fashioned picnic 

 dinners for which New England is justly 

 famous and to which all did justice — or 

 better. One of the most interesting 

 ■peeches of the afternoon was made by 

 .^lthur Pease giving the history of the 

 farm which contained about 600 acres. 

 Mr. Pease's grandfather took this farm 

 in 1821, built the barn in 18.30 and used 

 to mow about 125 acres by hand 

 Twenty-five cows were kept besides sheep, 

 horses, swine and all kinds of fowl. The 

 maples which beautify the farm were also 

 set by Mr. Pease's grandfather. Many 

 of the descendants of this family have 

 left Middlefield being scattered all the 

 way to California. Many interesting 

 speeches were made and an enjoyable day 

 was spent by all. 



Fruit Growers 



The Williamsburg Fruit Growers held 

 a successful field trip August 26, visiting 

 some of the best farms in Apple Valley. 

 It was clearly shown that the best of 

 apples could be grown in our hill towns 

 but that this quality of apples do not 

 grow wild. Abbot Howes showed some 

 fine Mcintosh, Wealthy, Wolf River and 

 Baldwin varieties. Apples on this farm 

 have proven more profitable than cows 

 so the hay is mowed and left as a mulch 

 under the trees. The fine giowth r.nd 

 color of the trees shows that this system 

 of management is successful. These 

 trees have been .'prayed five times and 

 the high quality of the fruit shows it. 

 At the second farm dairying and fruit 

 were carried on in combination, the fruit 

 suffering by not being so thoroughly 

 sprayed as on the first farm yet being 

 fai- above the average. 



At Mr. Townsley's Farm the outstand- 

 ing point was the ((uality of fruit grown 

 in an old hillside pasture. The trees 

 were seedlings grafted to Baldwins. In 

 this rough country the trees had been 

 sprayed four times. There are just two 

 trees in the pasture that were not 

 sprayed and these did not have a perfect 

 apple on them. This was as clear a 

 demonstration of the value of spraying. 



The outstanding points brought out by 

 this trip were that it pays to spray 

 THOROUGHLY (not once with arsenate 

 of lead) and that it pays to take care of 

 the orchard. These men take pride in 

 their fruit and have made Apple Valley 

 famous. The men are by no means small 

 faetoi- in the success of Apple Valley. 



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