HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



11 



''ontinued fi'om ija^e 1. eolumti 3 

 he got along without buying any corn 

 meal or hominy or mixed dairy ration. 

 Really good silage and plenty of it ex- 

 plains that. 



There is a vast difference between 

 silage and good silage — a difference 

 amounting to about five tons of corn 

 meal in a fifty ton silo. That difference 

 is brought out in the following table 

 showing the composition of ten tons of 

 corn at different stages of maturity. 



Composition of 10 tons of corn at dif- 

 ferent stages of maturity. 



:'tH 



1. 



This table makes it very clear that the 

 mere statement "ten tons of silage" does 

 not mean much. Is it silage containing 

 2,136 lbs. of nitrogen free extract or 

 good silage containing 4,205 lbs.? You 

 may fool yourself with green com silage 

 but you can not fool your cows. They 

 will know, or at least they will show, the 

 difference very quickly. The question is: 

 will you grow silage and keep on buying 

 a lot of corn meal to go with it or grow 

 good silage and keep for your.self most 

 of the money which you have been spend- 

 ing for corn meal? 



If you decide to grow good silage you 

 will find it necessary to bear these points 

 in mind: 



You will need a big growing- 

 variety of corn in order to get 

 a profitable tonnage. Something 

 like Learning, Sweepstakes, Rust- 

 ler's or Early Yellow Dent. 

 Our growing season is so very shoit 

 that all big growing corns need 

 every possible day of corn weather 

 in order to get mature enough to 

 make good silage so early planting 

 is absolutely essential. 

 You will lose rather than gain by 

 crowding the corn too close to- 

 gether. Plant little if any closer 

 than for field corn. An ear is 

 better than an extra stalk. 

 You are competing with the corn 

 belt about the most efficient farm- 

 ing section on earth — so, even : 

 though you are protected to the 

 extent of the fi-eight differential, 

 your methods must be efficient. 

 No extravagant labor oi' fertilizer 

 costs will do with this crop. 

 Manure plus 200 to .300 pounds 

 of acid phosphate drilled in the 

 row is fertilizer enough and hand 

 hoeing, for the most part, is taboo. 

 Fifty per cent of the cultivation 

 should be done with the harrow 



3. 



4. 



Continued from page 1, column 1 

 disinfected). The .solution required is 

 two ounces in 1.5 gallons of water. Di.s- 

 solve the poison in two c|uarts of boiling- 

 water in a pail and then add it to the 

 15 gallons of water in the barrel. Meas- 

 ure the water, don't guess. Then open 

 the sacks and pour the potatoes into the 

 .solution, letting- them .soak from one hour 

 to an hour and a half, depending upon 

 the amount of infection. The solution 

 may be drawn off and used again, then 

 it should be thrown away. If the sacks 

 are dipped with the potatoes, once will 

 be all that the solution should be used. 

 Seed disinfected in this way is poison 

 to man and beast, hence it should either 

 be planted or buried. 



Proper Storage Conserves Vitality 

 After the potatoes have been disinfect- 

 ed, they should not be returned to the 

 ; old sacks or they are apt to be reinfected. 

 They should be spread out one deep in 

 a bay of the barn or in a loft where 

 they will receive sunlight at least part 

 of each day. To have all eyes develop 

 evenly, the seed should be turned at least 

 ' twice a week. If handled this way, they 

 will throw out short, green sprouts which 

 will not break off easily. Even though 

 the potatoes are not disinfected, they 

 .should be spread out so as to check the 

 growth of long white sprouts which are 

 easily broken off thus decreasing- the vi- 

 tality of the seed. 



More Efficient Seed Cutting 

 In cutting- seed much time can be saved 

 by building a cutting- stand which in its 

 j simplest form is a door or platform set 

 up on a slant .so that the seed will slide 

 down to the operatoi-. This saves stoop- 

 ing for every seed potato. Another time 

 saver is to have a long paring knife 

 driven through a pine board attached to 

 the cutting stand. By drawing the seed 

 onto this this stationary knife, it can be 

 cut in half the usual time. 



Blocky seed pieces as near 2 oz. in 

 weight as possible are better than long, 

 slim pieces in that they work best in 

 the planter and also have less surface 

 exposed for evaporation. After cutting, 

 the seed should be dusted with sulfur 

 to further decrea.se evaporation. Cut 

 seed should never be piled as it will heat 

 quickly and spoil. If it is to be stored 

 in sacks, not over a bushel of seed should 

 be placed in a bran sack and then it 

 should be spread out as thinly as pos- 

 sible. Seed should not be cut very long 

 before it is to be planted because of 

 danger from evaporation and heating. 



before the corn is planted and ten 

 per cent more before it comes up. 

 The best that can be said for late 

 planted silage is that it is better than 

 none. It may make a fair tonnage of 

 green material but it can not possibly 

 equal early planted silage in production 

 of nutrients per acre. Early planting 

 is of the most vital importance. 



NORTHAMPTON 

 NATIONAL BANK 



W..\KRHN M. KING, President 



C. H. PIKRCE, Vice-President 



EDWIN K. ABBOTT, Cashier 



.(. MALCOLM WARREN, Ass't. Cashier 



'■Al'IT.M. AND SURPLUS, $718,000 

 IHOPOSITS. .?3. 300,000 



Savings Department 

 Interest Payable Quarterly 



We are qualified to act as Executor, 

 Administrator and Trustee 



Why not make your will appointing 

 this Bank as Executor? 



THE BANK FOR EVERYBODY 



H, D. SMITH 



Hatfield, Mass. 



GRAIN, COAL, ICE 



AND 



FARM MACHINERY 



The habit of Saving 



Is at the bottom of most 

 big successes in the busi- 

 ness world. Begin the 

 habit by opening a savings 

 account with the Hayden- 

 ville Savings Bank. One 

 dollar is enough to start 

 with. 



BANK BY MAIL 



HAYDENVILLE SAVINGS BANK 



HAVDHNVILLh, MASS. 



