HAJIPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 



Roland A. Payne, County Agent 

 Mildred AV. Boice, 



Home Demonstration Agent 

 Bena G. Erbard, County Club Agent 

 Mary C. O'Leary, Clerk 

 Mary Sullivan. Asst. Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9. 

 1915, at the Post Office at Northampton, 

 Massachusetts, under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



•*Xotice of Entry" 

 "Acceptance for mailing at special rate 

 of postage provided for in section 1103, 

 Act of October 3, 1917. Authorized Oc- 

 tober 31, 1917. 



Price. .'»0 oentN a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, President 

 Charles E. Clark, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Eoland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkin.s, Northampton 

 Geo. E. Timmins, Ware 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



COUNH NOTES 



Rollin Bates of Cummington tried acid 

 phosphate on a pasture plot last year 

 and in August, improvement could be 

 seen. This spring he was interested to 

 see first how much good the fertilizer was 

 doing, so a portion of the fertilized and 

 unfertilized plots were fenced off so that 

 areas of both could be harvested and the 

 results measured. Several weeks ago the 

 fertilized portion showed an increase in 

 white clover. One of his cows decided it 

 was a shame to let this fenced section do 

 so well, so she jumped the fence and har- 

 vested only the fertilized section of the 

 plot. Mr. Bates still believes that it pays 

 to use acid phosphate on his pasture and 

 having fixed the fence, hopes to see both 

 plots harvested during August. 



Last year by top dressing mowings with 

 nitrate of soda and acid phosphate, C. M. 

 Thayer of Cummington increased his hay 

 crop so that he was able to carry his 

 entire herd through the winter. This 

 year he increased his purcha.se of nitrate 

 100%. On a new seeded piece, he used 

 150 lbs. of nitrate and 300 lbs. acid phos- 

 phate this year. Early in June he mowed 

 the piece and had to poke off every inch 

 of the way. It surely is some job but 



Summer Seeding 



Continued from page 1. column 3 

 a firm, well compacted seed bed the capil- 

 lary rise of water is likely to be sufficient 

 to keep them giowing even in protracted 

 dry spells. 



A corn field which has been properly 

 cultivated makes an ideal seed bed. The 

 lower soil is compact and the surface 

 inch or two only is soft and loose. This 

 accounts for the general success of seed- 

 ing in the standing corn at the last cul- 

 tivation where such a practice is prac- 

 ticable. A weeder or spike tooth culti- 

 vator, preferably a weeder, is the best 

 implement to cover the seed. It is a 

 mistake to wait till the corn is more than 

 waist high. Cultivation at that time does 

 more harm than good and the grass and 

 clover do not get sun enough when sown 

 after the corn gets so big. Seeding with- 

 out a nurse crop is more expensive in that 

 a seed bed must be prepared especially 

 for the grass and clover but sometimes 

 it is necessary to do it. In such cases 

 it is desirable to plow two weeks or more 

 in advance of seeding so as to have time 

 to firm the soil down well and pulverize 

 the surface by harrowing. 



In many places the old standard seed- 

 ing mixture consisting of 15 pounds tim- 

 othy, 4 pounds red top, 5 pounds of red 

 clover and 4 pounds of alsike is as good 

 as anything. It is understood, of course, 

 that the alsike and red top should be in- 

 creased and the others decreased on wet, 

 heavy land. 



On the lighter soils, the more recent 

 mixtures of alfalfa, red clover and either 

 timothy or archard grass are gaining 

 greatly in popularity. It is impossible, 

 as yet, to say just what mixture is best 

 but the following ones have given good 

 results in cases observed this year: 



1. 20 pounds alfalfa. 

 10 pounds timothy 



2. 10 pounds alfalfa. 



10 pounds red clover. 

 10 pounds timothy 



3. 20 pounds alfalfa. 



20 pounds orchard grass. 

 Any of these mixtures are worth a trial 

 on fairly light soil which has been well 

 fertilized and limed. Alfalfa, of course, 

 requires inoculation. Cultures for the 

 purpose can be gotten at a cost of 25 

 cents from the Department of Microbiolo- 

 gy at the College. 



there are few that are troubled this way 

 this year. 



Sweet clover apparently grows wild in 

 this county. On the state road from 

 Huntington to Worthington, there are 

 plants scattered from the new bridge 

 northward for a mile or more on the side 

 of the road. About the middle of June 

 these plants were from two to three feet 

 tall. We wonder what this plant would 

 do under cultivation. 



THE BIG "3" IN 

 CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION 



The Portland Cement As.sociation of 

 10 High Street, Boston, offers the follow- 

 ing advice regarding the making of 

 stronger and more durable concrete: 



1. Grade the Aggregate (Sand and 

 gravel ) . 



The average bank-run gravel as it 

 comes from the pit contains too much 

 fine mateiia! and should be put through 

 a i" screen to separate the fine from the 

 coarse. The material that goes through 

 the screen is considered fine aggregate 

 and the part that is too large to pass 

 through is considered coarse aggregate. 

 These two grades of ma'terial should be 

 re-mixed with the cement in a three term 

 proportion, for instance, 1-2-4 (1 bag of 

 Portland cement, 2 cu. ft. of sand, 4 cu. 

 ft. of coarse material such as pebbles or 

 crushed stone). 



This precaution: — 



Makes denser concrete. 

 Increases the strength of the concrete. 

 Saves on the amount of cement re- 

 quired. 



2. Do Not Make the Mixture Too Wet 

 and stopp!/. 



When mixing the concrete use only 

 enough water to make the mixture work- 

 able and plastic. An excess amount of 

 water in the mixture reduces the result- 

 ing strength of the concrete materially. 

 An addition of 30'/r more water than is 

 necessary in the mixture reduces the 

 strength of the concrete by 50%. 



3. Ciiring the New Concrete. 



The hardening of concrete is not a dry- 

 ing out process but a chemical change 

 which requires the piesence of water. If 

 the fresh concrete is kept moist and damp 

 for 10 days after it has been placed in 

 the forms, it will accomplish the follow- 

 ing. 



Prevent ciacking. 



Increa.se the strength 75%. 



Increase the resistance to wear 65%. 



The average worker of the soil is im- 

 patient of delays encountered through the 

 difficulty of proper adjustment of ma- 

 chinery or tools. Great losses occur be- 

 cause of inefficiency through lack of un- 

 derstanding. If there is not a good 

 mechanic available, most men may work 

 out the problem by being patient. Some- 

 time the spending of an hour in getting 

 things into adjustment will mean the 

 saving of several hours within a short 

 time. Too often has the farmer cast into 

 discard machines which might do valua- 

 ble woik if propeily adjusted. 



