HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



HAMPSHIRE: COUNTY CLUB WORK 



MISS MURDOCK MEETS 



MY EXPERIENCES IN 



POULTRY MEMBERS TOUR 



THE ROOM GIRLS 



THE PIG CLUB ^'^'t Kerr Hatchery and Hilltop Farm 



Report to Date Qiven 



In the middle of April, Miss Murdock, 

 Assistant State Club Leader, visited the 

 Room Club of Worthington. At this time 

 each girl reported just what she was 

 doing in her room and how far she had 

 got. Samples of all the work done to 

 date were brought in. 



The girls have made very attractive 

 waste paper baskets from cardboard and 

 wall paper. They put them together with 

 ribbon to match their rooms. They have 

 also made linen runners for their dressers, 

 tables, etc. Many of the girls have made 

 utility boxes and covered them with cre- 

 tonne. At first they planned to make rag 

 rugs but have decided to send the rags 

 away to be woven. Curtains and dra- 

 peries are now under way. 



Before .July first, the girls plan to have 

 painted and papered their rooms and re- 

 finished their furniture. 



All feel that this club has done exceed- 

 ingly good work. They are working with 

 the idea of not only fixing their own 

 rooms but getting material to help other 

 clubs organize to do their rooms. We 

 feel this is real extension work. 



"ONCE A CLUB- 

 ALWAYS A CLUB" 



Only One Charter to a Club 



Mr. Farley, State Club Leader, is often 

 heard to say "Once a club — always a 

 club". This does not mean that only 

 the few members who may start to be 

 club members in a club can ever be in the 

 club. It means that once a community 

 starts to do club work it will always keep 

 it up. 



In previous years each time a club or- 

 ganized it received a club charter. After 

 the club was over if it finished 100% the 

 club received a club banner. There are 

 many communities in this county where, 

 there are five, six and seven charters and 

 as many banners. 



From now on a community will receive 

 only one charter in a project. All the 

 places where there is a home enconomics 

 or handicraft club or poultry "banner 

 club" it will be given a gold seal on 

 which is written "1922 banner Club". 

 This will be put on the charter. Each 

 year the club members will try to win 

 another seal to be put on the same 

 charter. 



We hope at the end of the year that 

 every club in the county will have a seal 

 on its charter. 



1921 Story 



I joined the pig club because I had 

 never grown a pig and wanted to learn 

 something about a pig. 



My pig was a barrow and one of a lit- 

 ter of six. I picked him out when he was 

 two weeks old and made a mark on him 

 with red paint. The paint did not stay on 

 very well and the other pigs were sold, 

 but I think I got the one I picked out. 

 His sire was a purebred Chester White 

 and his dam was mostly Chester White 

 but had some Berkshire blood in her. 

 My pig was all white and looked like a 

 purebred Chester White. 



I made a movable pen of one by six 

 inch boards 12 ft. long, 10 ft. wide and .3 

 ft. high to start with but when he grew 

 larger he would jump over the pen if 

 not feed on time .so I made it higher. 

 I made a house 4 feet long and .3 feet 

 wide. 



•June 1st I got my pig which was now 

 seven weeks old and he weighed 39 

 pounds. 



The first few days he was a little lone- 

 some and did not eat very well but after 

 a few days he was all right. 



I fed him two quarts of skim milk and 

 half a pound of middlings morning and 

 night to start with. I thinned the milk 

 with water. At noon I gave him gar- 

 bage. As he grew larger I gave him 

 more middlings and some skim milk, usu- 

 ally about four quarts a day. Middlings 

 are a good feed for pigs as it keeps the 

 pigs growing and in good condition. I 

 didn't try to fat him until the 1st of Octo- 

 ber. The 1st of October I started feeding 

 him corn on the cob and corn meal to 

 fatten him. 



I planted some rape for pasture in 

 rows 30 inches apart. When the rape 

 was a foot high I moved him out on to 

 it. I moved the pig to a new place every 

 few days. Rape is a good feed (1) be- 

 cause it provides cheap feed, with good 

 pasture you can save one-third to one- 

 half of your grain bill (2) because the 

 pig is healthier and better contented so 

 he grows faster. 



I took my pig to the Northampton Fair. 

 I won a first prize on him which was three 

 dollars ($3.00). 



I weighed my pig every two or three 

 weeks to see how much he gained. During 

 the hot weather he did not gain as well 

 as in cooler weather. The weights were 

 as follows: 



.June 1 —39 lbs. Aug. 14—116 lbs. 



.June 26—66 lbs. Sept. 11—1.59 lbs. 



July 10—85 lbs. Oct. 3 —190 Ib.s. 



July 24—90 lbs. Dec. 1 —307 lbs. 



April 8th saw the poultry club mem- 

 bers from all sections of the county com- 

 bine to make an all day tour. The clubs 

 from the valley all started from North- 

 ampton. Others came in to Springfield 

 and all met at Kerr Hatchery in West 

 Springfield. There were about forty on 

 j the trip. They went all through the 

 hatchery. Mr. Stober was splendid to the 

 boys and girls. They were given the best 

 of attention and a chance to see all the 

 processes at the plant. 



About eleven o'clock all boarded the 

 machines and set out for Hilltop Farm 

 at Sufiield, Conn. There is a poultry 

 plant of about three thousand birds here. 

 The manager, Mr. Lambert, conducted the 

 group all around the plant. He was 

 very good about giving his views on vari- 

 ous subjects and answering questions. 

 The club members felt it was worth while 

 to get his views as he is a man who has 

 been in the poultry business and made 

 good many years. 



After lunch the club started home, all 

 feeling a very worth-while day had been 

 spent. It is hoped this may be made an 

 annual afi'air. 



cloveTleaves 



The North Amherst handicraft club 

 took a very interesting trip to the Millers 

 Falls Tool Mill. They were taken 

 through the factory and saw the tools in 

 the making. This took in steel and 

 wooden tools. 



The "Busy Seven" handicraft club 

 boys of West Chesterfield have done a 

 very commendable repair job. They have 

 refinished all the desks and chairs in the 

 school. They scraped, sand-papered and 

 varnished all these. 



At the meeting of the county club 

 agents of the state held at Worcester, 

 officers for the year were elected. Mr. 

 Alger of Franklin County is president 

 and Miss Eihard of Hampshire County 

 secretary. Many resolutions regarding 

 Eastern States were passed. 



A goodly number of Hampshire County 

 boys and girls have joined the calf club. 

 They are all hoping to be able to exhibit 

 at Eastern States. 



The baby beef club members are plan- 

 ning to have a county judging team to 

 compete with the other teams at the 

 Baby Beef Day at Middleton, Conn., on 

 June 10th. 



This table shows a gain from June 1st 

 to December 1st of 268 lbs, or nearly a 

 pound and a half a day for 183 days. The 

 last two months my pig gained two 

 pounds a day. 



Osborne, West Hadley. 



