HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OLD DEERFIELD 



FERTILIZERS 



" Reasonable in Dollars and Sense" 



MANUFACTURED BY 



A. W. HIGGINS, Inc. 



SOUTH DEERFIELD, MASS. 



Teleplioii** 140 



BISSELL'S TIRE SHOP 



NORTHAMPTON. MASS. 



Miller, Qoodyear, and U. S. Tires 



Tires and Tubes 



Vulcanized by Steam 



QOODYRAR SERVICE STATION 



FUKE AIR 



66 KING STREET 



Tel. 1 20.3-M 



NORTHAMPTON 



COMMERCIAL 



COLLEGE 



"THE SCHOOL OF THOROUGHNESS" 



111 session twelve nmntlis in 

 the year. Students luliiiitted 

 at any time and graduated 

 when competent. 



Greater demand and better 

 salaries for business - trained 

 men and women than ever be= 

 fore. For catalogue and com= 

 plete information address 



JOSEPH PICKETI, Principal 

 76 Pleasant St., Northampton, Mass. 



NOW IS THE TIME 



TO THIN APPLES 



One Oood Apple is Better Than Two 

 Poor Ones 



Thinning as a practice is spreading 

 steadily as more fruit growers come to 

 realize the etfect of removing a part of 

 the fruit from overladen trees. As the 

 premium for really first class apples in- 

 creases, thinning must take its place with 

 pruning and spraying as an orchard prac- 

 tice which dare not be neglected. 



All of our common varieties of apples 

 sometimes set more fruits than they can 

 carry through to a proper maturity. 

 Some varieties overbear more frequently 

 than others; Mcintosh usually sets a 

 moderate crop, while Wealthy habitually 

 sets so many apples that Wealthy 

 gi'owers have become pioneers in thin- 

 ning. Baldwin is being thinned, on occa- 

 sion by an increasing number of growers. 

 There are a few things that will do moie 

 to raise the quality of the crop. 



When there are two apples on a fiuit 

 spur it is usually good practice to re- 

 move one of them. First remove those 

 apples that plainly would be culls at har- 

 vest time. It is better to throw them 

 away now than ne.xt fall after they have 

 drawn all summei- on the resources of the 

 tree. Further thinning requires some 

 judgement, but is safe to assume that the 

 inexperienced grower will not overdo it. 

 Experimental results tend to prove that a 

 distance of 8 inches or so between apples 

 brings the greatest returns at harvest 

 time. That is a little more drastic than 

 most of the thinning now practiced. 

 Most growers are content if the apples 

 are so spaced that they will be well sepa- 

 rated when mature. 



Thinning should not be done until the 

 ".June drop" is over but after that the 

 sooner the better although it pays to do 

 it even if it cannot be done until a few 

 weeks before harvest. When thinning is 

 done about the first of -July a pair of 

 thinning shears will save many fruit 

 spurs for the apples cling tightly to the 

 tree. After the operator becomes accus- 

 tomed to the shears the work goes on more 

 rapidly and easily than thinning by 

 hand. 



This is a busy season but when apples 

 need thinning there are few orchard op- 

 erations that will pay better returns. In- 

 creased profits will very often show a I'e- 

 turn of several dollars per hour for the 

 time spent. Try it this week on a few 

 trees by way of experiment. Thin them 

 as hard as your conscience will let you, 

 then watch the remaining apples grow. 

 R A Van Meter. 



W. H. RILEY & CO. 

 PLUMBING and HEATING 



KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 



(ilL'n\v(MMl katiyes and Lowe Bros. Paints 



Ojip. Pust (iffin- Northampton, Mass. 



Northamptnn JnBttttrttnn 

 for ^auiitga 



Inc-criiorati-cl 1K42 



^% (^% C^* 



A MUTUAL SAVINGS BANK 



Deposits begin to draw interest on the 



first business day of each month 



$1 will open an account 



(^* t^^ ijy^ 



Your income from your deposits in Massa- 

 chusetts Mutual Savings Banks is not 

 taxable under the State Income Tax 



^% ^% t^^ 



Open 9 A. M. to 3 P. M. 

 Saturdays, 9 A. M. to noon 

 Monday evenings, 6.30 to 8 



FIRST 



NRTIONRL BftNK 

 NORTHAMPTON 



The Bonk on tVit Cornei" ^^^ 



We make every effort 

 To render a faultless 

 Personal service. 

 May we serve you ? 



W'M. (;. llASSHIi, President 

 F. N. KNEELAM). Vice-President 

 EDW.AKU L. SH.WV, Vice-President 

 ELBEKT L. AHNOLD, Cashier 



