HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 

 Rfilniid A. Pnyiic, County Aspiit 

 Bena G. Eiliaid, County Club A«ciit 

 Btary C. O'l^eary, Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as secoi3<iclass matter Nov. 9, 1?15. at the 

 Post Offl<?e at Northampton, Massachusetts, under 

 the Act of March 8. ISTH. 



'* Noti<^e of Klltry " 



"Acceptance for mailing at special rate of post- 

 age provided for in section 110:i Act of October B 

 1917. Authorized October 31, 1917." 



Price, 50 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Ciapp, President 

 Charles E. Claik, Vice-President 

 Wai-ren M. King, Treasurer 

 Roland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 William N. Howard, Ware 

 Milton S. Howes, Cumniington 

 Mrs. Clifton .Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



Have you as an individual or has your 

 town as a whole received the support you 

 should from your extension agents? Un- 

 doubtedly you have not in many cases. 

 Too often this is due to the fact that we 

 do not have the attendance at community 

 meetings that we .should have and do not 

 get definite projects and goals established. 

 The following extract from U. S. D. A. 

 Circular 179 — "Status and Results of 

 County Agent Work in 1920 by W. A. 

 Lloyd states clearly what Community 

 Programs used are and how they may be 

 devetoped. This is why we want to hold a 

 community meeting in your town so that 

 you may get the maximum service from 

 us. 



Cotnmunity Programs 



The principle development in connection 

 with county extension service has been 

 the increased emphasis placed on the ap- 

 pointment of community project leaders 

 and the development through them of pro- 

 grams of extension work in agriculture 

 and home economics. The community 

 seems to be a better unit of operation 

 than the county in so far as program de- 

 velopment and execution are concerned. 

 A "Community" from the standpoint of 

 extension work may be considered as a 



group of rural people having agricultural 

 problems in common, who have united in 

 carrying out remedial measures with 

 definite objectives in cooperation with the 

 State Agricultural College and under the 

 direction of the county agricultural 

 agent. The bounderies of the "extension 

 community" have no essential relation to 

 political subdivisions of the county, to 

 church, school, or bu.siness communities, 

 though any organized group lying within 

 the extension community may have a part 

 in the program of e.xtension work. For 

 administi-ative purposes the county con- 

 tinues to be the unit, though the develop- 

 ment of community clubs is making prog- 

 ress in a few States. It has been the 

 general thought that definite community 

 organizations with fixed meetings are 

 not a necessary part of the county ex- 

 tension service, and that as good if not 

 better I'esults could be secured through 

 committees which only meet when there 

 is some extension project specifically 

 needing attention. In 1920 there were 

 11,561 of these community committees 

 which held a total of 9,086 meetings, or 

 an average of about 14 per county during 

 the year. There were .31,914 community 

 meetings held in connection with the 

 county extension service, or an average of 

 about .35 per county per year. The total 

 attendance at these meetings amounted to 

 1,213,551, or about 40 persons per meet- 

 ing. 



The county project committees held 

 4,475 meetings, or an average of 8 per 

 county for the 513 counties having pro- 

 ject committees, 1,163 county extension 

 picnics, and 1,186 observation tours to 

 view results of demonstration work con- 

 ducted. 



Program Development 



In program development increased tin- 

 phasis has been placed on "source of in- 

 come" as a basis for determinating what 

 should be undertaken. In the working- 

 out of a community program the com- 

 munity committee decides: 



(1) What are the chief sources of in- 

 come in crop and live-stock production. 



(2) What are the limiting factors. 



(3) What can be done. 



Having determinated what to do, a 

 community jjroject or plan of operation 

 is developed which determines — 



(1) Which of the limiting factors will 

 be attacked during the year. 



(2) When in the year will the work be 

 done. 



(3) Where in the community will the 

 demonstration be located. 



(4) Who will be appointed community 

 leader responsible for attending to local 

 details. 



(5) How 'much will be undertaken — 

 the goal of achievement. 



The above matters are first considered 

 with a few interested people. Later they 

 are discussed at a public meeting. The 

 Continued on pa^e '4. column 3 



Few Oppose TB. Eradication, but They 

 Are Hard to Handle 



Only a few people are opposed to reg- 

 ulating traflSc in tuberculous live stock 

 but their opposition is sometimes ef- 

 fective, and several cases of the kind 

 have been traced by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. However, 

 the department believes that cattle deal- 

 ers who do not favor tuberculosis eradi- 

 cations are influenced by selfish motives 

 and do not represent the true spirit of 

 live-stock owners and others interested 

 in healthier and better domestic animals. 



Although many States have suitable 

 laws to protect farmers and other live- 

 stock owners against traffic in tubercu- 

 lous animals, the practice continues in 

 some localities. Here is an instance: 

 In Massachusetts a purebred Holstein 

 cow, valued at $100, was disposed of as 

 a reactor; but instead of being slaug- 

 tered or segregated she was later sold 

 to a State institution for $300. The 

 herd at this institution had previously 

 been free of tuberculosis. It was being^ 

 improved by the purchase of new ani- 

 mals, and every available precaution was 

 taken to see that they Were healthy. 

 Recently this herd was retested and 

 three reactors were found, one of which 

 was the cow in question. All showed 

 well-marked lesions of tuberculosis on 

 post-mortem examination. 



There is no law or regulation in 

 Massachusetts preventing the sale or re- 

 quiring the segregation of reactors. A 

 few cattle dealers led the opposition to 

 a bill before the last general court pro- 

 viding for the control and sale of ani- 

 mals reacting to the tuberculin test. 

 Owing to the importance of eradicating 

 tuberculosis from live stock, the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is furnishing to the 

 public full information regarding the 

 natui-e of the disease and the way to get 

 rid of it. 



Agricultural Bulletins Available 



The State Department of Agriculture 

 from time to time publishes bulletins of 

 interest to Massachusetts farmers. No 

 general mailing list is maintained, yet 

 copies of bulletins will gladly be sent to 

 those interested by writing Department 

 of Agriculture, 136 State House, Boston, 

 Mass. 



The following are recent publications: 



Organization and Work of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture (36) 



Directory of Agricultural and Simi- 

 lar Organizations of Massachu- 

 setts (35). 



The Home Vegetable Garden (29) . 



Back Yard Poultry Keeping (1). 



Annual Report of the Commissioner 

 of Agriculture for 1920. 



