6 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Continued from page 1, column 3 

 quality of the horses. As a rule the 

 Aroostook farmers have fine teams. 

 Large horses are the rule and most of 

 them are well fed and cared for. The 

 average quality and size of their horses is 

 far ahead of that of this county. 



Many of the potato fields this year 

 show poor stands and also mixtures of 

 varieties and a large amount of diseased 

 plants. Years of planting cull potatoes 

 and not being careful about selecting 

 disease free plants has brought about this 

 condition. We believe that many farmers 

 who will buy selected stock next spring 

 will be greatly disappointed in results. 



The certified seed growers are trying- 

 hard to produce good seed potatoes. They 

 are constantly looking around for strains 

 superior to their own. Much of the best 

 seed has been imported from New Bruns- 

 wick. Growers themselves are becoming 

 expert in detecting diseased plants and 

 are pulling these out as soon as detected. 

 It has been shown that the aphis is the 

 main source of spreading plant diseases 

 such as Mosaic, Curly Dwarft, and Leaf 

 Eoll. It makes it hard for some men to 

 produce seed if their neighbor's fields are 

 badly infected with these diseases. Spray- 

 ing is common in the section and it was 

 a common sight to see three and four 

 large spray outfits at work in the same 

 field, each machine doing a real spray job 

 on four rows of potatoes at once. Every 

 potato grower in the section believes 

 thoroughly in spraying and the last of 

 -July they were all hard at it. 



Personally we believe that the men who 

 buy selected seed next year will be 

 making a mistake unless they know what 

 the potatoes looked like while growing. 

 The concensus of opinion of those at- 

 tending the trip was by all means to get 

 certified seed this year as diseased fields 

 are more common than usual. We visited 

 the party from whom the most of the 

 certified seed used in this county came 

 from. They have 275 acres entered for 

 certification. We spent one day at the 

 farm looking over the fields and believe 

 that they have some of the best potatoes 

 in the section. On July 26 the fields were 

 in full bloom and showed fine color and 

 growth. The matter of grading was 

 gone over at length and we believe they 

 understand what we expect in the way of 

 seed. 



Taken altogether we had a pleasant as 

 well as a mightly profitable trip. Another 

 year we hope that some of our Hampshire 

 County farmers will find time to take the 

 trip. 



PLOWING 



Many successful potato growers are 

 plowing their potato land in the fall. 

 This has two main advantages (I) It 

 lessens the work to be done in the spring; 

 (2) It kills many grubs. The last is 

 important as the grubs wintei- over in the 

 top 6 inches of soil. 



You will be able to rely on ^^ *^* rz^ir 

 your starter and lights, if you '^= 



bring your battery to us regu- "^ 



iarly for free inspection, dis- 

 tilled water, etc. We recharge and repair all makes 

 at right prices. When you need a new battery, 

 drive around and let us show you why you should 

 buy a Prest-O-Lite, built by the Oldest Service <-o 

 Automobile Owners in America. 



Official Prest'O-Lite Service Station. 



HOTEL GARAGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



SMITH'S 



AGRICULTURAL 



SCHOOL 



AIMS TO MAKE 



ITS STUDENTS 



PROFICIENT IN 



THE PRINCIPAL 



AGRICULTURAL 



VOCATIONS 



Slock ju..Uiiij< t.Miii Kii-.^T ;it M A C Hii^h Srliuol Dav, May l.!. 1922. 

 'I'iiu nrhci' sclionlrt 1 ompetiiig. 



The f4illoiviii;; may ht- e-iprcially eniplia*ii7.o(I 



(II rom'KV lirSHAMiKV : Thi' ciirc. fwrling and lin-ediiK' *>f producing hens. The 

 niH'iaii'iu of iiiciili itur^ ai.d hoodef^. The (•(HistniL'tioii of equipment. 



iM' OAlKVIXi: TliH bahmLMng ut rations. The testing of milk and its pio lucts. Advanced 

 registry work. The brrciHng of cattle The construction of farm buildings. 



(31 ruriT GItOWING: The pruning of tr>^es. The mixing and api>licatiou of spray ma- 

 terials. The uper.itiun and n-i>aivs of spray machinery. The i)acking of fruit. 



W(irk ill the agricultuial department begins September 2oth and ends early in May enabling 

 students to take full jidvantage of practical training on the fium. All otiier departments open 

 Sci)t<-miii'r .")tb. 



l-'or iiii'Micr in t'iii*Jiialioii writ*' fin" i-alaIo;;iii' or \isit IIh' st-hoitl 



M. N. LOO.MIS, Director 



Northampton, Mass. 



