HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFK 



Kolaiul A. I'ayiu'. County Agent 

 Mrs. Edith I). Freiirli, 



H<»ine Deiiioiistrati<Mi AjroTit 

 Bena ti. Kiliard. County <'liil> AkchI 

 Mary C. O'l.eaiy, Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 

 Northampton, Mass. 

 Entererl as second class matter Nov. 9, 1015, at the 

 Host Office at Northampton, Massjichusetts. under 

 the Act of March 8, 1879. 



"Notice of Entry" 



"Acceptance for mailing at special rate of post- 

 age provided for in section lins. Act of October :j, 

 1917. Authorized October 31, 1917." 

 Pri<'e. .'iO cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, President 

 Charles E. Clark, Vice-President 

 U'ai-ien 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, Cuniniington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 •Tohn A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



MRS. FRENCH RESIGNS 



Leaves Many Friends in the County 



It is with a feeling of deep regret that 

 the resignation of Mrs. Edith French is 



APPLY EARLY FOR FEDERAL 



FARM LOANS 



We are advised by the Federal Land 

 Bank of Springfield, Mass., to urge those 

 who contemplate needing first mortgage 

 loans this next winter or early spring to 

 apply early. The reason is that no ap- 

 praisals of farm property are made on 

 ground covered by snow. It is not satis- 

 factory either to the Bank or to the indi- 

 vidual concerned to examine a farm under 

 such conditions. Applications where the 

 money is wanted in early spring, there- 

 fore, should be made in September or 

 early October .so that an appraisal of the 

 property can be made. 



The.se loans are made on the long time 

 easy payment plan. The interest rate is 

 5i7c and cannot be incieased after the 

 loan is made. Another feature is that 

 each borrower is a stock holder and par- 

 ticipates in the net earnings of the Bank 

 all of which are returned to the farmers. 

 The Bank pays a 6'; dividend on these 

 shares and has distributed in the last 

 two years over one hundred thousand dol- 

 lars to the farmers who have loans 

 through this institution. 



Application for these loans in this 

 county should be made to the local rep- 

 resentative or write direct to the Federal 

 Land Bank of Springfield, Mass. 



POTATO CROP PROSPECTS 



EXCEED NORMAL DEMAND 



According to the August estimates of 



acreage and crop condition, present indi- ...^ .^...6 



cations are for a large crop of potatoes, accepted. She has been Home demonstra- 



Acreage is estimated at 4,228,000 acres tion agent in the county since last Novem- 



or 5'/, above the average for the 5 years ber and during the time she has been 



1916-1920. The August crop condition is i here has done mighty fine work and made 



estimated at 84.3% compared with a 10- many friends. 



year average for August of 81..3-J. This , The work carried on by Mrs. French 



..as been along many lines. In many 

 mate being for a production of abou' 



440,000,000 bushels, which would be ap 

 pro.ximately IS*;; above the •5-year aver- 

 age. 



The crop condition may, of course, be 

 expected to deteriorate somewhat between 

 now and October, since that is what hap- 

 pened with each of the crops from 1900 

 to 1920. From 1900 to 1920 the average 

 loss in condition from August to October 

 was 8.8',r, and allowance has been made 

 for such a loss in forecasting a produc- 

 tion of 440,000,000 bushels. Allowing for 



the average deterioration the crop con- „,,„. ,,,,,,„ „^, ,,,„,^g^ ^^^^ ^^^, 

 dition for October would be 84.39/ minus women on planning more efficient kitch 

 8.87,, or 75..59f. Since the average Octo- , ens. During the past .spring preserva- 

 ber crop condition for the past 10 years ' tion schools were held in many towns, 

 has been 73.7'.,;, it can be seen that if this , she has also been interested in the school 



L''.^!,'..! Tl"" ^''!.5™""''i ™^f,' ,^^^ ■"'"•'i''^'^'' ■" Williamsburg. Throughout all 



this work the women of the county have 

 found a valuable worker in Mrs. French. 

 She will be at home in Amherst during 

 the coming winter. The new agent has 

 not as yet been appointed. 



— -^ -- - lilt; woi K caiiieu o 



indicates a bumper crop, the August esti- I has been along many une.. xn many 

 — being for a production of about I towns the women hav^ been making dress 



forms. It has just been learned that 58 

 forms have been made in the town of 

 Ware, as a result of the demonstration 

 given by Mrs. French. There have been 

 many in proportion made in the other 

 town :. In some communities there has 

 been clothing work carried on. A num- 

 ber of towns did millinery work with a 

 worker secured by Mrs. French. Other 

 groups-have been studying the food habits 

 of the family, while still others have been 

 keeping and studying household accounts. 

 Mrs. French has worked with some 



condition in October will still be above 

 the 10-year average. 



Per Capita Consumption Small 



The August estimate of 440,000,000 bu- 

 shels equals a per capita production of 

 approximately 4 bushels on the basis of 

 the present population of approximately 

 109,000,000. During the past 22 years 

 there has been a per capita production of 

 4 bushels or more in six years only. 



A study of prices in these years shows 

 that with but one exception the price in 

 the New York market the following 

 March was considerably lower than that 

 in October. 



However, conditions may be more 

 favorable during the rest of the season 

 that the October crop condition will not 

 be 8.8''r below that of August. If such 

 conditions should prevail this year, the 

 production would probably be in excess of 

 the present estimate. 



On the other hand, unfavorable condi- 

 tions may develope which will so serious- 

 ly aff'ect crop conditions as to reduce 

 considerably the chances of a large ciop. 

 In 1916, the crop condition instead of de- 

 clining only 8.8'/r from August to October, 

 dropped off 18.2%. In 1916, although 

 the acreage was only 4% below the 5- 

 year average, the production was 21% 

 below, while 1908, with an acreage 8% 

 larger than the 5-year average, had a 

 final production 2% below the 5-year 

 average. 



Quality May Be Affected 



Unfavorable conditions may also very 

 seriously afl^ect the keeping quality of 

 the potatoes so that a larger share than 



normal would have to be sold off' as soon 

 as possible. If this should happen a crop 

 larger than average may be followed by 

 much higher prices in the spring. This is 

 practically what did happen in the crop 

 year 1907-8. The October crop condition 

 that year was 77' r, as compared with a 

 10-year average of 74%, and the produc- 

 tion was 323,000,000 bushels, or 6% above 

 the 5-year average. With a crop of 

 normal keeping quality this would have 

 meant a fairly good supply of potatoes 

 all through the winter, and, judging from 

 other years, prices in March would have 

 j been lower than those in October, or but 

 very little higher. However, because of 

 blight and other conditions seriously af- 

 fecting the keeping quality of potatoes, 

 the market reports indicate that very 

 few of the potatoes in the fall of 1907 

 were in good condition and that they were 

 sold off' rapidly. In the following spring, 

 markets were in good condition, with sup- 

 plies scarce and prices high. 



Blight got in its work again in 1915. 

 That year, the October crop condition was 

 practically equal to the 10-year average 

 crop condition and with an acreage 3% 

 above the 5-year average a large pro- 

 duction of potatoes was indicated. Nor- 

 mally, this would have meant lower prices 

 in the spring of 1916 than in the fall of 

 1915, whereas prices actually rose ma- 

 teriallv. 



