HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



11 



DEMONSTRATIONS VISITED 



Cummington Farmers Show results 



Thirty farmers of Cummington and 

 vicinity took an Auto trip to visit crop 

 demonstrations being- conducted by farm- 

 ers on Cummington Hill in cooperation 

 with the Hampshire County Extension 

 Service. All of the demonstrations were 

 designed to help solve some of the piess- 

 ing problems confronting faimers in the 

 locality and were planned at Extension 

 schools last winter. 



Acid Phosphate Aids Pasture 



At C. M. Thayer's, a pasture improve- 

 ment plot was visited. Five years ago 

 Mr. Thayer tried acid phosphate at the 

 rate of 400 lbs. per acre. This spring 

 a portion of the fertilized and of unferti- 

 lized pasture was fenced off so that a 

 record of yield could be taken. After 

 five years, the fertilized plot still has an 

 abundance of white clover, while the un- 

 fertilized area has practically none. Prof. 

 Abbott pointed out that all pastures 

 would not respond this way but suggested 

 that every one try a plot, using 1,000 lbs, 

 of acid phosphate per acre. On the ferti- 

 lized area, the cattle are keeping the hard- 

 hack down while this is not true on the 

 unfertilized portion. 



Nitrate Gives i^esults in Orchard 



At Frank L. Sears a plot was shown 

 where nitrate of .soda had been applied 

 to an old orchard in sod. Three years 

 ago this orchard was badly broken by the 

 ice storm. Neighbois allowed that any 

 labor spent on the trees would be wasted. 

 Mr. Sears pruned off tne broken branches 

 and last year applied .5 lbs. of nitrate 

 of soda in a wide circle around the trees. 

 This year 10 lbs. was put around each 

 tree except four which were left unferti- 

 lized for comparsion. Every one who 

 knew the orchard said they were sur- 

 pri.sed at the growth and color of the 

 fertilized trees, many of which have a 

 good crop this year. On close examina- 

 tion, it was seen that the fertilized trees 

 not only had better color than the un- 

 fertilized block, but that they were form- 

 ing new fruit buds on last year's wood, 

 thus insuring a crop next year. Mr. 

 Sears said that it cost about 30 cents to 

 fertilize each tree and he felt that he got 

 this back on the hay crop alone. 



Pruning and Spraying Pays 



Mr. W. H. Morey's orchard was visited 

 next. A part of the trees were pruned 

 last winter, while the rest were not. In 

 this orchard it was seen that in general 

 the fruit on the pruned trees ran better 

 colored than on the unpruned plot. For 

 the past few years scab has been bad 

 in this orchard. This year the pre-pink, 

 pink and caly spray were applied to con- 

 trol scab with very satisfactory results. 



Much interest was shown here in the Ap- 

 ple and Thorn Skeletonizer which has 

 done so much damage this year. Very 

 little damage was noted on the trees 

 that had been sprayed thoroughly, while 

 a few trees in another lot which had not 

 been sprayed were almost defoliated. For 

 the men who spray their orchards thor- 

 oughly, this insect hold no terrors, while 

 for those who do not spray, it will be a 

 source of worry and loss. 



A Successful One Man Farm 



Frank Steele's farm was the next 

 visited. Here Prof. Abbott showed what 

 Mr. Steele was doing to reclaim worn 

 out mowings. Mr. Steele's method is to 

 plow deeply during the summer. The 

 next spring, potatoes are planted, being 

 fertilized with a ton of high grade fertili- 

 zer per acre. The next year the piece 

 I is manured lightly and seeded down in 

 oats or else in corn. One hay crop is 

 taken off and then the land is top-dressed 

 either with manure in the fall or with 

 nitrate in the spring as long as it stays 

 In hay. Before the sod runs out it is 

 replowed and the rotation started again. 

 In this way land which grows practically 

 nothing is made to produce profitable 

 crops of potatoes, corn, oats and hay. Mr. 

 Steele does this without using lime and 

 gets good stands of clover. Lime costs 

 Loo much and results are being obtained 

 without it. 



The poultry was then seen. Mr. Steele 

 grows the chickens on new land each year 

 and finds it pays. He has over 300 pul- 

 lets that look as though they would be 

 laying before long. They form a profita- 

 ble source of income. He has no expen- 

 sive poultry houses but has remodeled his 

 barn to house the hens with fine results. 



The fruit here was worth coming a 

 long way to see. Cherries, plums, peaches 

 and apples are grown but the latter are 



a sight to behold. The trees are properly 

 pruned, sprayed and either cultivated or 

 fertilized. The only blemishes found on 

 the fruit were due to spraying when it 

 was hot and this caused sun burn on 

 some varieties. ' As in the other sprayed 

 orchards the Skeletonizer has done little 

 damage. A spray for this insect however 

 was put on the first of August. The 

 garden on the farm too was well worth 

 seeing, as it showed careful planning and 

 care as well as a fine variety of products. 

 One of D. R. Wells' potato fields was 

 next visited. This particular field of 

 ubout an acre was planted alone to see if 

 certified seed potatoes could be grown in 

 Cummington. With recent information 

 available concerning the spread of de- 

 g-enerative diseases, it was hoped that 

 by rouging out diseased hills that this 

 field might produce certified seed. At the 

 first inspection, it was found that there 

 were too many plants infected with mosaic 

 and leaf roll to make this rouging profit- 

 able. Professor Abbott showed what 

 Curly Dwarf and Mosaic were and stated 

 that it was hoped that another year seed 

 suitable as parent stock could be obtained. 

 In spite of this disease, it looked as 

 hough Mr. Wells would have a good crop 

 of merchantable tubers. 



FARMERS' EXCHANGE 



For Sale: Sunnyvale Admiral, two 

 year old Pure Bred Registered Guernsey 

 Bull. T. B. Tested. Grandson of the two 

 great bulls Imp Lord Mors and Ne Plus 

 Ultra. For further information and copy 

 of pedigree apply to Earle L. Martin, Pel- 

 ham, Mass. (P. 0. Enfield, R. F. D.) 



Wanted: Subscribers to make more use 

 of this column! It is free! 



I 



= YOU'RE ALL INVITED = 



At the Eastern States Exposition, you'll find the Exchange ex- 

 hibit in Mathinei V Hall, spaces 142 and 169. You'll see in the 

 exhibit what should keenly interest you — there the story of 

 the 1923 Feed Pool will be told for the first time in full. 

 For those who come to Springfield by train, the Exchange 

 offices are at Xi Lyman Street, just across from the station. 

 They will be open to our out-of-town friends, to use as their 

 headquarters and rest-room during Exposition Week. Come 

 down and see your Exposition, your exhibit, and your Exchange 

 at work. 



LET'S GET TOGETHER, - NEIGHBOR ! 



EASTERN STATES FARMERS' EXCHANGE 



Co-operative Distributors of Supplies to Farmers 

 SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS 



