HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. VI. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., OCTOBER, 11)21 



No. 10 



FAIRS 



Hampshire County Well Represented 



Favored by the best of weather all of 

 the fairs of Hampshire County have 

 closed a successful season. Every one 

 looks forward to cattle show and prac- 

 tically everyone is glad when the show is 

 over. The excitement and competition 

 does much to stimulate interest in things 

 agricultural and as an educational fac- 

 tor all fairs have greater possibilities 

 than ever have been exploited. 



Middlefield 



Depending almost entirely on the ef- 

 forts of one community Middlefield holds 

 one of the best of our old time cattle 

 .shows. In fact practically everyone 

 brings the best of his herd for the first 

 day and competition is always keen. The 

 spirit of the competitors is as fine as will 

 be found anywhere. Those defeated 

 always take their defeat gracefully and 

 vow they will have a prize winner next 

 year. Here neighbor competes against 

 neighbor and each man can see whether 

 he is getting ahead as fast as his neigh- 

 bor. Holsteins predominate as this is 

 one of the few hill towns selling milk. 

 Scrub bulls are a curiosity while regis- 

 tered cows are not. One of the striking 

 features is the fine quality of the grade 

 cattle. It is a sure thing that Middle- 

 field farmers keep but few of the five 

 quart cows which are according to census 

 figures so common in this county. 



Hall exhibitors were lighter this year 

 than formerly. Middlefield farmers 



could and should put on a better hall ex- 

 hibit another year. More vegetables and 

 fruit would help, and how about potatoes 

 and corn? 



Ware 



The outstanding feature of the agri- 

 cultural section of the Ware Fair was 

 the exhibits of the two local Granges. 

 In both cases the quality and variety of 

 farm products showed hard work on the 

 part of all. In the vegetable exhibits it 

 would seem that the young people were 

 doing more farming than their fathers as 

 their exhibits of vegetables, handicraft, 

 and canning were far ahead of previous 

 years. The adults must get busy if they 

 are going to show the coming generation 

 the way in farming. The cattle depart- 

 Continued on page 2, column 3 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' DAY A SUCCESS 



Everybody Busy and Happy 



Good weather and a full day made 

 many boys and girls happy on October 

 4th at the Three County Fair. The 

 building was filled with exhibits. The 

 canning club exhibits caused much in- 

 terest. There were ten Hampshire 

 County and one Franklin County club 

 exhibiting. Keen comepition was shown. 



There were three town exhibits, Had- 

 ley, Amherst and Hatfield. The prizes 

 weie awarded in the order given. There 

 were displays by the Smith Agricultural 

 School and the Continuation School. 

 There were many individual exhibits in 

 all departments; drawing, sewing, cook- 

 ing, vegetable, canning, handicraft and 

 flowers. 



The morning was spent in judging con- 

 tests for the older boys and girls. The 

 main thing of note here was the fact 

 that every contest started on scheduled 

 time. The winners were: 



Poultry 



First — Osborne West, Hadley. 

 Second — T. G. Oliver, Northampton. 

 Third— Charles Mather, Hadley. 



Bread 



First — Sophie Branasinka, Hadley. 

 Second — Helen Mageska, Hadley. 

 Third — .Julia Keefe, Hadley. 



Preserves 



First — Helen Mageska, Hadley 

 Second — Florence Edmonds, Hadley. 

 Third — Caroline Sover, Hadley. 



Corn and Potato 



First — Irving Johnson, Hadley. 

 Second — Stephen Buczala, West- 



hampton. 

 Third— Osborne West, Hadley. 



Livestock 



First— J. Goller, Hatfield. 

 Second — K. Heald, Amherst. 

 Third— E. Olds, Middlefield. 

 At the same time there were sports on 

 the track for the younger boys and girls. 

 These were in charge of Mr. J. E. Rey- 

 nolds, the County Y. M. C. A. secretary. 

 Ribbons were awarded in all event;.. 



In the afternoon all the program took 

 place in front of the grandstand. First 

 came the club pageant. This was mar- 

 Continued on page 3. column 3 



COMMUNITY MEETINGS 



Your Town Should Have One 



Each year at a town meeting you are 

 asked to appropriate money for the 

 Tru.stees for County Aid to Agriculture 

 who have been running under the name 

 of The Farm Bureau since 1918. Last 

 year every town in Hampshire County 

 appropriated money and now we as the 

 extension workers cooperating with the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College and 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture want an opportunity to show 

 what has been done in this county and in 

 your town. Every town director within 

 the past month has received a letter 

 asking him to make local arrangements 

 for a community meeting in his town for 

 the above purpose. At these meetings 

 we want local demonstrators to tell the 

 results of their demonstrations whether 



Continued on i)a^e 5. column 2 



ECONOMIC STUDIES 



Business Conditions 



The outstanding matter of interest to 

 the New England farmer to-day is the 

 smallness of the most important among his 

 cash crop. Naturally, a good price per 

 unit is expected for these crops which are 

 short throughout the country, and the 

 farmers are wondering whether to hold 

 for higher prices or to consider the 

 present quotations all that economic con- 

 ditions are likely to justify. 



During such uncertain times as these 

 it is particularly dangerous to attempt to 

 forecast on particular commodities, but 

 there are some general economic facts 

 and principles which it is well to keep in 

 mind when faced with the task of esti- 

 mating the season's values and deciding 

 whether to accept a fairly profitable off"er 

 or to gamble on the chance of a better 

 price later with a chance for less. 



Apples and pototoes are the leading 

 cash crops over the larger proportion of 

 the area. In a limited area onions are 

 also an important cash crop. In the case 

 of each of these crops the production in 

 the fields contributing to our markets will 

 be decidedly below the average. 



An investigation of the records of 

 prices reaching back over a number of 

 years shows clearly that, in the case of 

 such a commodity as potatoes, an extreme 

 shortage of production may double the 

 Continued on page 2, column 2 



