HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 



Roland A. Paynf, County Aseiit 

 Mrs. Edith D. French, 



Home Demonstration A^ent 

 Bena G. Krliard. County Club Asent 

 Mary C. dreary. Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 

 Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as second class matter Nov. !l, 1915. at the 

 Post Office at Northampton, Ma.ssachusetts, under 

 the Act of March 8, IW i. 



"Notice of Kntry " 



"Acceptance for mailinfd: at special rate of post 

 age provided for in section llOH, Act of October '^ 

 1917. Authorized October 31, 1917."" 



Price. 50 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, President 

 Charles E. Clark, Vice-President 

 Warren 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, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



WHY NOT HAMPSHIRE COUNTY? 



The following news item from Wor- 

 cester County applies to this County. 

 We can and should do the same thing. If 

 you have an unsuccessful demontsration, 

 everyone will know it. Why not boost 

 the successful ones? 



The demonstration method of Exten- 

 sion teaching has taken sufficiently firm 

 hold on many of the farm demonstrators 

 in Worcester County, so that they see 

 their way this year to converting many 

 of their neighbors to improved farm prac- 

 tices. 



County Agent Leader Sumner R. 

 Parker reports that at community meet- 

 ings held in Worcester County to de- 

 termine project work for 1922 the 

 demonstrators agreed in almost every 

 case to see to it that the idea they were 

 teaching should spread and take hold 

 in their community. In some ca.ses 

 Mr. Parker and County Agent George 

 F. E. Story found that the demonstra- 

 tors present at the community meetings 

 were admittedly the only farmers in their 

 towns who were following the practices 

 demonstrated, even though the demon- 

 strations had been running in .some cases 

 for several years. 



Continued from pai^e 1 column '^ 

 3. Growing chickens on land on which 

 poultry had not run for at least 

 two winters. 

 Simple and perhaps nothing but what 

 you already know, but here is the story. 

 In 1919 and 1920 Mr. Drinkwater sold 

 his early hatched chicks at good prices, 

 kept later hatches for himself, raised 

 these late hatched chicks on ground that 

 had chickens on it for several years. 

 Both years ordinary losses were received 

 among the chickens, but in November 

 the losses began. Usually the best pul- 

 lets would lose the use of their legs and 

 then lose weight and die. At times a 

 whole wheelbarrow load of dead birds 

 would accumulate in a couple of days. 

 By incjuiring among his neighbors, Mr. 

 Drinkwater found that he was only one of 

 the many having this condition. Some of 

 the neighbors have since gone out of 

 the business and more are right in 

 line to do the same. But as Mr. Drink- 

 water expres.sed it he did not mind going 

 out of the poultry business of his own ac- 

 cord but he did hate to be forced out. 



Prof. Monahan's suggestions seemed 

 reasonable and easy so he decided to try 

 them. This spring four hatches were 

 taken off the first on March 1st, and then 

 one each week for four weeks. In all 

 1100 chicks were hatched and taken to a 

 brooder house in which there had been no 

 chickens for two winters. The roosters 

 were .sold as broilers and paid the feed 

 bill to date and Mr. Drinkwater had .500 

 pullets and $100 besides. The first egg 

 was laid August 1st. In September, one 

 pen of 100 of these early hatched pullets 

 laid up to 70 eggs in one day and are now 

 (November) laying bO'A. 



The houses where hens had had so 

 much trouble were thoroughly cleaned 

 and disinfected. The yards plowed and 

 seeded before the pullets were placed in 

 them. Today, Mr. Drinkwater has the 

 .500 pullets with not a cull nor a case of 

 trouble among them and they are pro- 

 ducing eggs while eggs mean money. 



There ai-e at present, just two 

 disease control demonstrations in this 

 county. There should be one at least in 

 every town where poultry is kept and 

 more poultrymen who are just getting by 

 can increase their profits by doing the 

 simple things which make healthy stock. 



The county agent and State leader 

 put it up to the farmers as a business 

 proposition that it was not worth while 

 for them to come with specialists and 

 spend their time and State money to 

 improve the practices of a few farmers 

 who were already progressive and leaders 

 in their communities. The only basis 

 on which they could consider doing 

 further demonstration work was that 

 the project leaders should see to it that 

 the demonstration was so effective and 

 so well advertised in the community that 

 it sold itself to other farmers. 



Contmued from page 1. column 1 



$25.00. With this and $25.00 borrowed 

 from the Society for Promotion of Agri- 

 culture, through the Club Agent, he pur- 

 chased a Registered Guernsey bull calf 

 from the accredited herd of George Tim- 

 mins, of Ware. When a little fellow like 

 Earl will stand up on his feet and tell 

 just what his plans are, and how he has 

 completed them thus far by his own 

 efforts, one cannot help but feel glad to 

 hear him. 



Almon Howes, Manager of the Western 

 Hampshire Farmer's Exchange, said that 

 the Exchange had done a $12,000 business 

 with a profit of about $600.00 to the Ex- 

 change besides effecting a real saving to 

 farmers in the cooperative purchasing of 

 seed potatoes, fertilizer and grain. 



Sereno S. Clark of Williamsburg told 

 why he believed in more and better spray- 

 ing. He has done more spraying this 

 year than any other member of the Wil- 

 liamsburg Fruit Growers' Association 

 and had by far the best crop. 



The dinner served by the Northampto'n 

 Grange was prepared entirely from pro- 

 ducts raised by Club Members from 

 seventeen towns of the County. The rolls 

 made by the Boy's Bread Club of Hun- 

 tington showed that the members of this 

 club surely know their business. 



"Ten Miles from Nowhere and Headed 

 the Other Way", was the .subject of John 

 D. Willard's speech. He told of early 

 experiences in Extension work when no 

 definite programs of action were foimed 

 by the communities and work of agents 

 was merely help to individuals and got no 

 further. Now we try to organize pro- 

 jects and have demonstrations not merely 

 for the demonstrators but for every one 

 in the community. 



Miss Lucile Reynolds, Home Demon- 

 stration Agent Leader, said that true ex- 

 tension work with women was not merely 

 the giving instruction to groups of women 

 but that these women acted as leaders in 

 their communities and passed the work 

 along to others. 



"Next!" was the subject of George L. 

 Farley's talk. He said it was not a case 

 of what you were going to do next week 

 or next year for the boys and girls but 

 what shall we do Next and then going 

 right at it. 



The importance of getting definite pro- 

 grams of woik in each town through com- 

 munity meetings was brought out clearly. 

 If the agents and people of the communi- 

 ties do not get their eyes on a common 

 goal and then bend all efforts to reaching 

 this goal, results are often disappointing- 

 to all parties concerned. 



To those who attended, no repetition of 

 facts is necessary. To those who did . 

 not attend, you missed a pleasant and in- 

 structive meeting. Let's all be there next 

 year. 



