HAMPSHIRE: COUNTY 



AUG 2 .'^ 1923 



Agrical t viro ' 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. VIII. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., AUGUST, 1923 



No. 8 



POULTRY POINTERS FORESTRY PROGRAM 



Are You Up to Schedule? 



Every poultryman realizes that eggs 

 produced in the late fall and early winter 

 bring high prices and also increase profits. 

 How to get eggs during this period is 

 still a problem to the majority, other- 

 wise prices would not be high. That it 

 can be done has been demonstrated by 

 many of the best poultrymen all over the 

 country. 



Did You Hatch Early? 



Early hatching is the first requirement 

 for profitable egg production. This gives 

 the birds time to mature without forcing. 

 It is practically impossible to get pullets 

 too fat before they begin laying. In fact, 

 more failures to get high priced eggs 

 have been brought on by having the pul- 

 lets come from the range in poor condi- 

 tion. A large well matured bird with 

 plenty of capacity to handle large quanti- 

 ties of feed is necessary for heavy egg 

 production. 



Some men take pride in telling how 

 early their birds began laying. Every 

 flock has a few birds that begin at an 

 extremely early age. When a large per- 

 centage of the flock starts production 

 early, it should be a warning sign show- 

 ing that the birds have been forced too 

 much. Birds of this type have neither 

 the reserve flesh nor the vitality to keep 

 up heavy egg production. They lay a 

 large percentage of small or "pullet" 

 eggs. Properly fed birds do not have to 

 be moved around, neither does their mash 

 have to be removed to keep them from 

 early laying. 



A feeding system which is proving sat- 

 isfactory is to keep dry mash and cracked 

 corn before the pullets all the time. Some 

 of the best flocks in the county have been 

 fed this way from the time the birds 

 were eight weeks old. These men are 

 having no trouble in getting large, well 

 matured pullets before heavy laying be- 

 gins. 



Even with early hatched and properly 

 managed pullets, winter egg production 

 is not assured unless pullets are housed 

 early. This means that a lot of work 

 must be done during the summer, culling 

 the flock, so that only the birds with 

 superior qualities as breeders will be on 

 the plant in the late summer. This early 

 Continufid on pa^e 7. column 2 



TO BE DEVELOPED 



The foresters of all the northeastern 

 states are convinced that the destiny of 

 this region is very closely bound up with 

 forestry. At least a third of the soil of 

 New England is better adapted to the 

 growing of timber than anything else, 

 according to these forest experts, and 

 they urge that the general farmer could 

 profitably pay more attention to his farm 

 wood lot. The development of timber 

 resources depends to a large extent upon 

 the farm wood lot, they say. 



A beginning of a program for forestry 

 development in New England was made 

 at the New England Agricultural Con- 

 ference in .January. Recently in New 

 Haven, foresters of the twelve northeast- 

 ern states built on that foundation a ten 

 year program for forestry, which is aim- 

 ed primarily at the development of the 

 farm wood lot, to supply a very large 

 part of the timber needs for local con- 

 sumption. These timber specialists have 

 no doubt of the capacity of the region to 

 grow its own timber and they believe that 

 the practical way to grow it is in the 

 farm wood lot. They admit that it is 

 first of all essential to get hold of the 

 /magination of the farmer and make him 

 see the possibilities in growing trees as 

 a farm crop. 



PARADICHLOROBENZENE 



FOR PEACH BORERS 



Paradichlorobenzene is a white crystal- 

 line solid which vaporizes slowly at or- 

 dinary temperatures. The gas is not 

 poisonous to man, but will kill insects 

 when they are expo.sed to it for some 

 time. When placed near the burrows of 

 peach borers the chemical will kill the 

 borers and will not harm the tree unless 

 the work is very carelessly done. Follow 

 directions with care. 



A. Trees six years old or over 



1. Clear away all weeds, grass, 

 leaves, etc. from the base of the tree 

 without stirring the soil any more than 

 is necessary. Remove any large mass 

 of gum that may be there. 



2. Try to have the general level of 

 Continued on page 8, column 1 



A QUALITY PRODUCT 



FOR A QUALITY PRICE 



Massachusetts Farmers Can't Afford to 

 Grow Anything Else 



The organization of the farm business 

 is not very different from the organiza- 

 tion of any other business. The farmer 

 wants to use his land, men equipment in 

 such a way as to gain the largest net 

 profit possible over a term of years. He 

 always has before him the question of 

 whether he will raise or buy his live 

 stock; whether he will sell grain or live 

 stock or live stock products; in short, hi.3 

 measure of success is largely found in 

 the diff'erence between his receipts and his 

 expenditures, while at the same time his 

 plant is kept in good condition. 



The farmer produces his crop for the 

 market and its production is not finished 

 until it reaches the consumer or the fac- 

 tory where it is changed so materially 

 that it becomes really another product. 

 It is evident that the price which a farm- 

 er receives for his product and the cost 

 of marketing that product must both be 

 items of great importance in determining 

 the farmers' business. 



In order to be of interest to the farmer 

 the farm product must either be useful 

 to him in producing other products which 

 will bring a price or must itself bring a 

 price fi'om the consumer sufficient to war- 

 rant his producing it. Part of this price 

 the consumer pays for a product, first, 

 because it is in itself good ; second, be- 

 cause it reaches him at the proper time; 

 third, because it is the proper quantity; 

 and fourth, because it is in a form in 

 which he can use it. To the New Eng- 

 land farmer the time and place and pe- 

 culiar form in which the customer wants 

 his product are perhaps more important 

 than the first or elementary quality of 

 the product itself. 



In managing a farm the farmer has 

 two great problems before him; fir.st, to 

 choose crops which will employ his land, 

 men and equipment to the best advan- 

 tage; and second, to organize his men, 

 land and equipment in such a way that 

 they will work without waste and produce 

 the best possible results. It is in the 

 problem of choosing crops that the farm- 

 er must give particular attention to the 

 Continued on page ;♦. column 1 



