HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY ORCHARD FERTILIZER EXPERIMENT 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 

 Roland A. Payiio, County Aeent 



Home I>enionstration Ajff'lit 

 Bena G. Krliaid, County ( lub Aitfut 

 Mary C. 0*l.<':iry, Clerk 



Office First National Banl< Building 

 Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9, UHS, at the 

 Post Office at Nortliamiiton, Massiichnsetts, under 

 the Act of March 8. 18T9. 



"Notice of Kntry " 

 "Accejitance for mailing at special rate of post- 

 age provided for in section llO:^. Act of October 3. 

 191T. Authorized October 31. 1917." 



Price, 50 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, Pie.sident 

 Charle.s 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 



Bulletin Gives Results of Years of Work 



The oldest orchard fertilizer experi- 

 ment in America, perhaps in the world, is 

 interpreted by Dr. J. K. Shaw, pomolo- 

 gist of the Massachusetts Experiment 

 Station, in Bulletin 209 of that Station. 

 It has been a combined test of fertilizer 

 treatments, .soil management methods 

 and varietal differences under various 

 forms of management. 



The experiment was started in 1889 by 

 the late Dr. Charles A. Goessmann, "the 

 father of agricultural chemistry in 

 America", who was then director of the 

 Massachusetts Station. It was continued 

 under Dr. William P. Brooks and in more 

 recent years under Dr. Shaw. 



Growth record.s and yields under vari- 

 ous treatments, relation of growth to 

 yield, and of yield and fertilizers to 

 Continue<l on patie 3. column 1 



FARMERS' EXCHANGE 



FOR SALE or EXCHANGE: Pure- 

 bred Guernsey bull calf. F. C. Miller, 

 Haydenville, Mass. 



FOR SALE: Registered Guernsey bull 

 calf — May Rose breeding. W. Leonard 

 Tice, Huntington, Mass. 



DO YOU NEED A 



POULTRY ACCOUNT BOOK? 



A poultry account book is being printed 

 by the Mass. Agricultural College which 

 should interest many of the poultrynien 

 of this County. It is very simple, having 

 the principal receipts and expenses classi- 

 fied. In the back of the book is a page 

 for taking the inventory and a page for 

 summarizing the year's business. There 

 is also a page for listing the total eggs 

 produced by months for those farms 

 where daily egg records are kept. 



The idea of the Poultry Account Book 

 project is that every poultryman who ob- 

 tains a book agrees to mail to the County 

 Extension Office at the end of the month 

 his monthly egg production, the number 

 of hens kept, and expenses for grain. 

 In return the State and County averages 

 will be mailed to him in order that he 

 may compare his records with the other 

 cooperators in the county and in the state. 

 This project, with the cooperation of the 

 county, can be of great value to the Ex- 

 tension Service in obtaining cost figures 

 on poultry. 



We would like to have you start by No- 

 vember l.st. If you want one of the 

 books, write to the County agent, 59 Main 

 St., Northampton, Mass. 



ONION GRADING MEETINGS 



A series of meetings to explain the 

 Onion Grading Law was held in the 

 County September 19. Mr. Robert Bier 

 of the U. S. D. A. was present to explain 

 the law and how it may be useful to the 

 onion growers. He stated that the law 

 was not compulsory but that it could be 

 used by all who wished to. Under the 

 law there are really only two quality 

 grades, (1) U. S. Grade No. I which are 

 sound onions, free from splits, scullions, 

 rot and skinned onions; (2) U. S. Grade 

 II which can contain anything looking 

 like an onion. There are four size 

 grades (1) U. S. Grade I, onions il inches 

 in diameter and above; (2) U. S. Grade 

 No. I Medium, at lot of onions where 

 2.5% are between li and li inches the 

 other 75'yr being larger; (3) U. S. Grade 

 No. I large, a lot of onions 907f of which 

 are 21 inches or over in diameter; (4) 

 U. S. Grade Boilers which are from i 

 to 11 inches in diameter. 



Most growers were surprised when they 

 found that only one screen, the one they 

 have been using, was needed. Most lots 

 of onions grown in the valley could be 

 packed according to these grades by 

 being careful in screening. The law al- 

 lows 5% defects in the onions but 

 growers that are not careful do not 

 grade as closely as this and in conse- 

 quence Connecticut Valley Onions are 

 quoted .50 to 75 cents per hundred below 

 those from other sections. 



Meetings were held at A. L. Harden- 

 dorff's. North Amherst; E. W. Hibbard's, 

 North Hadley; Frank Zalot's, Hadley; 

 and at the Hatfield Town Hall. It was 

 clearly brought out that to comply with 

 the law all that was necessary was to 

 pack only good unions which is no more 

 than what is supposed to have been done, 

 but has not. Inspections on carlots may 

 be had by addressing the Onion Inspector, 

 Hotel Lathrop, South Deerfield, Mass. 



Continued from page 1. column 1 

 same was true last year and the year be- 

 fore. In many sections farmers do not 

 take as much pride, it would seem, in 

 farm crops as in their live stock, yet 

 farm surveys have .shown that cash crops 

 are as important as good dairy cows. At 

 Cummington this year there was keen 

 competition in the potato class and a very 

 creditable .'howing was made. Potatoes 

 are grown in every town and in fact are 

 one of the important cash crops of the 

 county. Other fairs might do well to 

 build up this class. 



One class which seems generally to be 

 scorned is that of collection of vegetables. 

 Every fa- m should have a garden. Yet 

 when the fair season comes on, this class 

 very seldom has more than one or two 

 entries whereas it should be filled. If we 

 have not the gardens it is high time we 

 started. Much could be gained from such 

 a class in comparing varieties and in 

 weeding out poor kinds for those that are 

 superior. Much can be gained, too, in ar- 

 tistic arrangement. It may be that too 

 small premiums are offered and that more 

 can be obtained from single plate enteries. 

 If so, this should be changed as an artis- 

 tically arranged collection of vegetables 

 adds far more to the fair than the same 

 number of vegetables on plates. 



In all premium lists there is plenty of 

 room for improvements. It would seem 

 to be advantageous to cut down the num- 

 ber of classes and try to get real live 

 competition in a few rather than to try 

 to have so many classes with only one or 

 two entries in each. It usually takes 

 nerve in a board of directors to do this 

 as there are people who have been bring- 

 ing the same article to the fair year after 

 year getting prizes on it. In short, cur- 

 rent production rather than antiques 

 should be favored. 



Grange Fairs over the country are be- 

 coming more popular. In these there is 

 u.sually a simple premium list with but 

 few classes. In most cases all classes are 

 well filled and competition is keen. The 

 Granby Grange held a fair at which I am 

 told the potato class rivaled that at 

 some of the large fairs. At Wiliams- 

 burg there was keen competition in the 

 milk class. 



The success of a fair depends largely 

 on the local interest it arouses. If your 

 fair is not a success do not simply state 

 that it is not good but get busy and ex- 

 hibit yourself. You can also do good 

 work in getting others to exhibit. 



