HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



VIII. 



NOIITIIAMI'TON, MASS., IVIAKOH. V.^-lii 



No. 8 



FRUIT PROBLEMS DISCUSSED 



Fertilization and Sprayinj; Pay 

 Dividends on Time Invested 



Professor F. C. Sears of the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College, speaking at an 

 extension school held recently in Willams- 

 burg, stated that the fruit growers in 

 that section were overlooking a great op- 

 portunity in not capitalizing the ad- 

 vantages which their .sod orchards have 

 over orchards which are cultivated. He 

 stated that three quarters of the prizes 

 offered for apples at fairs were taken by 

 fruit growers having orchards in sod. He 

 made it plain that while this showed that 

 excellent fruit could be grown under this 

 sy.stem, the fact remained that the bulk 

 of the fruit, fully 15^' of it in fact, is 

 not what it should be. 



The advantages which orchards in sod 

 have over those where clean cultivation 

 is practiced are (1) Better colored fruit; 

 (2) Better keeping quality; (3) Lower 

 cost of production; (4) It is easier to get 

 around in these orchards in the spring. 

 These are the advantages which nature 

 bestows. The.se should be capitalized. 

 Offsetting these advantages are dangei- 

 of fire injury, mice damage, greater 

 trouble from insects and fungus diseases 

 and a greater need of keeping up .soil 

 fertility. 



The soil fertility problem is one which 

 needs immediate attention. The need is 

 noticed by decreasing size of the apple 

 crop with a lessened size of the individual 

 apples each year. Then a hard winter 

 comes and many of the old trees have 

 branches die or perhaps the whole tree 

 passes along to the wood pile. If twigs 

 on these trees were studied, it would be 

 found that they had not made over 

 an inch terminal growth each year. To 

 be hale, hearty and productive, an apple 

 tree should make at least six inches 

 growth each year on the terminal 

 branches. Experiments have shown that 

 production and tree growth go hand in 

 hand. They also show that nitrogen is 

 the limiting element. Hence the solu- 

 ution of the problem is found in applying 

 nitrate of soda at the rate of 5 to 15 lbs. 

 per tree, early in the spring, just after 

 the buds open. It is at this time that the 

 fruit buds for next years crop are formed 

 and nature will only form buds as the 

 nitrogen supply permits. As the feeding 

 Continued on page 6, column 1 



HAMPSHIRE-FRANKLIN 



HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN 



Club Meeting 



Olfcrs an opportunity for every 

 Holstein Breeder in Hampshire 

 County to hear one of America's 

 leading dairy authorities, Prof. 

 H. H. Wing of Cornell on "Outlook 

 for the future in the Holstein In- 

 dustry." 



Meeting starts promptly at 11.00 



a. m. 

 Friday, April 20th. 



Extension Service Rooms, North- 

 ampton, Mass. 



Dinner at Boydens. 



Come and bring your Neighbor. 

 Your wife is invited. 



Write E. P. Montague, Amherst, 

 Mass. for dinner reservations. 



LET VOLUME ADD TO 



POULTRY PROFIT 



Types of farming have been defined 

 as general, specialized, and diversified. 

 The general farm is that .sort of farm, 

 even now all too common, where a little 

 of everything is attempted but nothing 

 done in great enough volume to really 

 count for much. It is a survival of the 

 old home-making period of rural life 

 when each family made itself as self- 

 sustaining as possible. When the family 

 needs of vegetables, fruits, pork, beef, 

 eggs, and even wool for homespun, were 

 products of the farm and no purchases 

 were made of prepai'ed foods, stylish 

 clothes and ga.soline, the "necessities" of 

 today, little money income was required 

 and .such a type of farming enterprise 

 sufficed. 



The .specialized farm is quite the oppo- 

 site. It concentrates on the production of 

 one cash crop — as vegetables, fruit, grain, 

 or potatoes. The poultry plant of the 

 East or far West is perhaps the extreme 

 type. Many of them use land but as a 



(_'()nlinui-d on pagre 2. column 2 



EXTENSION SCHOOLS 



Progress JVlade During February 



Nine communities in the county held 

 Extension Schools during February. 

 Each one of them was a success because 

 of good attendance, lively interest and the 

 willingness of those present to put into 

 practice the information which was pre- 

 sented. Too often farm meetings are 

 called a success when really they are not. 

 Good attendance helps, but it alone is not 

 the full measure of success. It is true 

 that any able speaker can do better be- 

 fore a full house than he can before a 

 slim crowd. Attention to the speaker is 

 also important and, while necessary, it 

 is simply one of the essentials. The real 

 acid test of success for a meeting is 

 whether those present profit by what they 

 have heard and put it into practice. 

 Those who attended the meetings and 

 agreed to carry out the ideas brought for- 

 ward were the ones who made these 

 schools successful. The others were 

 simply, as reporters say, "among those 

 present". 



These schools were, in a way, an ex- 

 periment because in the past we have 

 ti'ied more or less to have something in 

 these meetings to interest everyone. This 

 meant covering a wide range of subjects 

 in a short time with the result that 

 sufficient details could not be given any 

 one subject so that those present would 

 wish to go and do likewi.se. This year we 

 limited our chances of getting a large 

 audience by boiling our list of subjects 

 down to one. That meant that others in 

 the town not interested in that particular 

 subject would not attend. Those who did 

 attend these schools, we believe, felt 

 really paid unless they were the "mess- 

 hound" type who attend all meetings to 

 get the ride and the dinner, and who like 

 a talk which is just plain hot air. What 

 we tried to do was to give information 

 which would make those present think of 

 how the matters under discussions could 

 help them. 



The basis of all the schools was a study 

 of farming as a business. Factors which 

 influence farm profits such as Gross sales, 

 Combination of .sources of income. Num- 

 ber of cows, hens, value of cash crops 

 were discussed. From this, many agreed 

 to keep simple farm accounts, showing 

 total sales, total expenses and also what 

 the sources of income are and the amount 

 Continued on payc- 7, column 2 



