HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. VI. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., NOVEMBER, J921 



No. 11 



POTATO DEMONSTRATIONS 



Certified Seed Beats Home-grown Seed 



Every farmer in Hampshire County 

 had an opportunity to purchase certifi- 

 cate seed potatoes last winter, yet only 

 three carloads were shipped here. The 

 reason seems to be that farmers as a 

 whole are not .sold to the idea that cer- 

 tified seed is worth the extra price over 

 selected stock. In past years we have 

 demonstrated the fact that northern 

 grown potatoes were superior to home- 

 grown for seed, the advantage in favor 

 of the former being in proportion to the 

 length of time the home grown seed had 

 been used on the faini. This year's 

 demonstrations have gone one step 

 further and show definitely that certi- 

 fied seed is worth the exti'a price over 

 selected stock. 



For example, C. D. Lyman of Granby 

 purchased some selected stock to plant 

 beside the certified seed. Both lots of 

 potatoes came from Maine, were given 

 the same treatment, and planted on the 

 same day and in the same field. All 

 through the season the certified seed 

 looked better and Mr. Lyman figures that 

 he lost just $100 by planting the selected 

 stock. 



William Walpole of Haydenville plant- 

 ed one bushel of certified seed besides 100 

 lbs. of selected stock and 100 lbs. of home- 

 grown seed. Reduced to equal term.s of 

 100 lbs. seed each, the following yields 

 were obtained: Certified seed — .STi bu- 

 shels; Selected stock — 23h bushels; Home 

 seed 191 bushels. The certified seed cost 

 $.3.75 while the selected seed cost $1.75. 

 The extra two dollars expended for certi- 

 fied seed yielded 14 bushel of potatoes so 

 it seems to be a paying proposition. 



Not all the demonstrations came out 

 like the two above. In some of our hill 

 towns, seed one year from Maine gave as 

 good results as certified seed in a few in- 

 stances. Other cases certified gave from 

 25 to 150 bushels increase over seed 

 raised one year on the farm. We believe 

 that the farmer who expects to get ahead 

 cannot afford to take unnecessary chances 

 and that is what he does when he u.ses his 

 own seed potatoes. 



Twenty-five demon.strations from all 

 sections of the County show that home- 

 grown potato seed yielded 198.5 bushels 

 per acre while certified seed grown in the 

 Continued on page .5. column 2 



ANNUAL MEETING 



Reserve November 16 



We hope that every farm family in 

 Hampshire County will be represented at 

 the Annual Meeting of the Hampshire 

 County Extension Service to be held in 

 Odd Fellows Hall, Center Street, North- 

 ampton, Wednesday, November 16, 1921. 

 There will be interesting speakers for the 

 whole family so there should be no dull 

 moments. The dinner sei'\-ed by the 

 Northampton Grange will be prepared 

 entirely fiom products either raised or 

 made by the club members in our Boys' 

 and Girls' Clubs. That alone should be 

 an incentive to have you present. 



Project leaders from different parts of 

 the County will tell how they put across 

 their particular line of work. The fol- 

 lowing is the program: 

 10.30— Business Meeting. 

 11.00 — Reports of Agents. 

 11.30 — Reports of Project Leaders. 

 12.30 — Dinner — Products raised by 

 Club Members. 

 1.30 — "Ten Miles from Nowhere and 

 Headed the Other Way", .lohn D. Wil- 

 lard. Director of Extension Service, 

 M. A. C. 



"Women's Part in Extension 

 Work." 

 Miss Lucile Reynolds, State 

 Home Demonstration Agent 

 Leader. 

 "Next!" 

 Geo. Farley, State Boys' and 

 Girls' Club Leader. 

 Those who did not attend last years 

 meeting missed a treat. This years meet- 

 ing will be better. Come! Bring the 

 whole family and your neighbor. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



The Fifth Annual Dressed Poultry and 

 Egg Show will be held at the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College November 18th 

 and 19th, 1921 The Poultry Depart- 

 ment is to launch a campaign to en- 

 courage better market poultry and eggs, 

 and this campaign starts with the show 

 in November. Selecting hatching eggs 

 and breeders with care has been the 

 poultrymen's practice, but selecting mar- 

 ket poultry and market eggs has received 

 Continued on jiage 5, column:i 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



EXTENSION SERVICE 



Trustees Relinquish " Farm Bureau " 

 name to Membership Organization 



In 1918, the Trustees for County Aid 

 to Agi'iculture were given the name, as- 

 sets and liabilities of the old membership 

 Farm Bureau. They have been operating 

 under this name until October 11, 1921, 

 when it was voted that the Trustees for 

 County Aid to Agriculture for the sake of 

 I uniformity take the name of Hampshii-e 

 County Extension Service. The present 

 organization is the Extension Service. 

 { The Farm Bureau has a skeleton organi- 

 zation at present and will begin a mem- 

 bership campaign this fall. Present 

 oflicers in the Hampshire County Farm 

 Bureau are: President, William Belden, 

 Hatfield; Vice-President, G. Fred Pelis- 

 sier, Hadley; Secretary, Ernest Russell, 

 Hadley; Treasurer, Josiah Par.sons, 

 Northampton. Executive Committee: 

 W. H. Morey, Cummington; E. C. Searle, 

 Southampton; W. H. Atkins, Amherst. 



The following memorandum of under- 

 standing between the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture and the membership Farm 

 Bureau will clear up some of the cjues- 

 tions which may arise. 



"Since questions have arisen regarding 

 the relations of the Farm Bureau to the 

 Cooperative Extension Service of the 

 State Agricultural Colleges and the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 

 it has seemed desirable for the national 

 organizations representing the Farm 

 Bureaus and the Extension Service to 

 formulate and recommend to their State 

 and County organizations the following 

 general outline of a policy which may 

 govern the relations of the Farm Bureaus 

 and the Extension Service in their 

 coperative enterprises. 



The Farm Bureau 



The County Farm Bureau is a volun- 

 tary organization of people engaged in 

 farming and has for its object the pro- 

 motion of the economic and social inter- 

 ests of agriculture. It is non-.secret, non- 

 partisan, and non-sectarian and it is its 

 policy as an organization not to engage in 

 commercial activities. It is open to both 

 men and women on equal terms. While 

 it may engage in other activities it is 

 greatly interested in the piomotion of the 

 Continued on page -i. column '.i 



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