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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



' MONTHLY 



Vol. vni/ «^^ 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., MAY, 1923 



No. 5 



ANNUAL SPRING MEETING 



Town Directors and Project Leaders 

 Meet 



Seventeen of the twenty-three towns 

 of the County were represented by 75 

 people at the Annual Spring Meeting of 

 Town Directors and Project Leaders of 

 the E.xtension Service, at Northampton, 

 Saturday, April 7. Travelling conditions 

 from the towns not represented were such 

 that it would have been impossible to 

 make the round trip in a day. The morn- 

 ing .session was given up to conferences 

 of groups representing Agriculture, 

 Home Making and Club work. 



In the Agricultural section, demonstra- 

 tions were discussed and suggestions re- 

 quested regarding ways of making them 

 of greater value. The idea of a demon- 

 stration is to show that the practice is 

 profitable under local conditions. When 

 plots are laid off it is essential to leave a 

 part untreated for comparison. It is also 

 necessary to keep account of costs so as 

 to show that the value of the product 

 is greater than the cost. Greater use 

 of demonstration plots is planned for this 

 year .so that all may receive the benefit. 



The Home Making .section di.scussed 

 organization of work in communities and 

 also reorganized the County Advisory 

 Committee which is to work with the 

 Home Demonstration Agent. 



The Club Section discussed arrange- 

 ments of exhibits, poultry clubs, calf 

 clubs and the awarding of prizes for ex- 

 cellence of work. At noon the sections 

 adjourned to Boyden's where lunch was 

 served and the general conference held. 



Director .John D. Willard of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural College traced 

 the history of Extension work in the state. 

 The first county agent was employed in 

 191.3. In 1916 Home Demonstration 

 agent work was started in one county and 

 during the war club work was started. 

 The Extension Service was first called 

 "Farm Bureau" but in 1918 the Trustees 

 for County Aid to Agriculture took over 

 this work to comply with the anti-aid 

 amendment. Since then these trustees 

 have employed the agents and run the 

 oi-ganization under the name of the 

 Hampshire County Extension Service. 



The County Extension Service works 

 through its agents with rural people, 

 helping them to solve home and agi'icul- 

 Oontinued on page 9, column 2 



FRUIT TREES MUST GROW 



Demonstrations Will Show Results 



"Newly .set trees can be made to bear 

 from .3 to 5 years earlier if you make 

 them grow from the start. This means 

 more and quicker money. Pruning costs 

 are cut! Cultivation costs are cut! 

 Years of waiting are cut by growing a 

 tree in 5 years instead of 8 or 10. A 

 newly set tree ought to grow vigorously 

 from the start, 2 feet is better than 6 

 inches. 



"Set your trees early and use every 

 bit of summer available. Prune back far 

 enough so that there will be no danger 

 of the tree drying out and just strag- 

 gling along. The actual number of 

 inches depends on the condition of the 

 tree and the quality of the roots. 



"Put a couple of forks of manure on 

 top of the ground after the tree is set. 

 Then if it does not start well, apply a 

 handful of nitrate of soda not later than 

 the first week of June. 



Continued on pag'e 10, column 1 



CO-OPERATIVE USE OF 



FARM MACHINERY 



In any consideration of farm manage- 

 ment, attention must be given to the 

 proper use of farm machinery. In so far 

 as improved machinery results in more 

 economical use of man or horse labor, 

 the use of such machinery will usually 

 justify itself from a farm management 

 standpoint. The cost and depreciation of 

 the implement itself must of course be 

 considered, but in general any implement 

 which will enable a man or team to ac- 

 compli.sh more work in a day will be 

 found desirable to own and operate. The 

 exception to this general rule comes for 

 those small farms where the acreage or 

 volume of business will not bear the 

 initial cost of the higher priced imple- 

 ments. In the ca.se of potato machinery 

 such as planters, diggers and sprayers, 

 it is a difficult problem as to what acreage 

 will warrant an investment in these im- 

 plements. At the same time, it is well 

 recognized that the crop can be handled 

 more economically on areas where these 

 machines are used. It would seem then 

 that small growers should if possible co- 

 operate to the extent that these imple- 

 Continued on page 10, column 1 



BETTER BREEDING 



stressed at Holstein Club Meeting 



Speaking before the Hampshire-Frank- 

 lin Holstein-Friesian Club, Prof. H. H. 

 Wing, head of the Animal Husbandry 

 Department of Cornell University, 

 brought out many interesting and useful 

 facts concerning the "Outlook for the 

 Holstein Industry." 



He stated that while the breed has been 

 passing through a period of depression, 

 the demand for Holstein is steady and 

 constant, due to the fact that they have 

 been and will be pre-eminent in the dairy 

 industiy. Being adaptable to varying 

 conditions and being able to produce suf- 

 ficiently to be valuable will always keep 

 up the demand. 



The owning of registered animals does 

 not make the owner a breeder of cattle. 

 Many men start with a few animals, save 

 every heifer for several years and then 

 sell out. These men hardly ever add any- 

 thing to the industry. Breeding is a life 

 business and real progress seems to be 

 confined to herds which have been in the 

 same hands for two or three generations. 

 Breeders are the men who are able to 

 produce better animals. While produc- 

 ing show animals and making advanced 

 registry records are useful in promoting 

 the bi'eed, the ultimate aim is to breed 

 cows that will produce 10,000 lbs. of milk 

 per year in the hands of dairymen. 



Too few men realize what constitutes 

 an animal useful from a breeders stand- 

 point. Dairymen seem to be content with 

 a cow that will produce 4,.500 lbs. of milk 

 per year. The requirement for Advanced 

 registi-y until recently vvas 360 lbs. of 

 butter fat per year. This is barely above 

 the line of excuse for living as a dairy 

 producer. This kind of animal is not 

 valuable to breeders, as they must breed 

 better cows and this requires constant 

 selection. The standard for advanced 

 registration is now 400 lbs. of fat per 

 year and this should be still further 

 raised so as to make an aristocracy of 

 animals. 



We must have animals that will pro- 

 duce and reproduce. Relation of form 

 to function needs careful attention. One 

 should not be u.sed at the expen.se of the 

 other. A committee has brought out 

 ideas regarding the ideal form which 

 should have an important influence in the 

 I'ontinufd on page 8, column 1 



