HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. VIII. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., OCTOBER, 1923 



No. 10 



OPERATION OF MILKING 

 MACHINES REQUIRES 



INTELLIGENCE 



Must Be Cleaned and Kept cleaned 



Forrest C. Button, New Jerney 

 The difficulty of thoroughly cleaning all 

 parts of a milking machine and keeping 

 it in a sanitary condition thereafter has 

 been one of the chief drawbacks to its 

 more common use. Experiment stations, 

 in studying the problem, have found the 

 principal sources of milk contamination 

 by the machine. First among them is 

 the air that is admitted to the teat cup ; 

 this contamination is now met by filter- 

 ing the air before it gets to them. A 

 second source is the cups themselves when 

 soiled by careless handling and by being- 

 dropped on the floor. This may readily 

 be overcome by care on the part of the 

 dairyman. The third source, unclean 

 rubber parts, is the one which gives the 

 dairyman the most difficulty. 



Keep Partu in Disinfectant 

 Experiments have shown that it is not 

 only important to have all the parts thor- 

 oughly washed but they must be kept in 

 some disinfectant .solution when not in 

 use. Many commercial hypochlorite com- 

 pounds are on the maiket and meet with 

 favor because of the ease of using them. 



W«-s/( CI con 

 The common practice now is to rinse 

 the cups and rubber connections in cold 

 or luke-warm water immediately after 

 milking. This is usually done by suck- 

 ing the water through the parts with the 

 machine running as in milking. They 

 are then thoroughly washed in a hot solu- 

 tion of washing powder and rinsed with 

 hot water. Some farmers perform all 

 these operations with the pulsator run- 

 ning. The last two operations, however, 

 may be done with the parts dissembled 

 and in a washing vat. The ordinary rub- 

 ber parts and connections, and most forms 

 of pulsators, will not withstand steam 

 sterilization. The final but equally im- 

 portant operation is the placing of the 

 parts in the disinfecting solution. In 

 doing this, air pockets should not be al- 

 lowed to form and prevent the solution 

 from coming into contact with the rubbei-. 

 Continued on page 10. column 1 



FIVE HUNDRED FARMERS 

 GIVE OPINIONS ON 



STOCK FEEDING 



Producing or otherwise obtaining feed 

 economically is the most t)'oublesome 

 problem of farmers who keep live stock. 

 This was bi-ought out emphatically 

 through a questionnaire sent out by the 

 department which was answered by 

 nearly 500 farmers scattered over the en- 

 tire country. The replies showed that 

 general economy of rations, the cost of 

 grain, and the cost of protein represent 

 about 52 per cent of the difficulties in 

 feeding. 



These men clas.sed balancing of rations 

 next in importance. Other problems, 

 such as labor, increases in production, 

 difficulties in wintering stock, short pas- 

 tures, and variety and palatability of 

 feeds were thought of only in connection 

 with the principal difficulties. That these 

 opinions are worth considering is borne 

 out by the fact that all of the men ques- 

 tioned were progressive farmers and 

 breeders, and the average period of theii 

 experience was 20 years. 



rVpntiiUH'd on pagre '.*. rnlunm 1 



RATE OF PRODUCTION 



DETERMINES PROFITS 



Every day more emphasis is placed by 

 authorities upon the importance of in- 

 creasing the rate of farm production. 

 Several interrelated factors are at work 

 to accomplish that end. Inci'eased taxes 

 on farm property, decreased labor supply, 

 higher labor costs, lower market prices — 

 all tend or should tend to cut down the 

 cultivated acreage and intensify the rate 

 of production on the remainder. 



Therefore, credible evidence coming 

 straight from farmers themselves and 

 demonstrating the dependence of profits 

 upon rate of production is especially in- 

 terei5ting just now. According to the 

 Ohio Extension Service: "Twenty-eight 

 Scioto County farmers who have been 

 keeping books on their farms for the past 

 five years find that yields to the acre 

 and the quantity and kind of livestock 

 kept had more to do with profit and loss 

 than any other factors." 



("*untinut_-d on pngr^ 11. column I 



SUCCESSFUL FAIR SEASON 



Better Exhibits a Feature 



Hampshire County fairs have been 

 blessed with ideal "Cattle Show" weather 

 this year and as a result have closed a 

 successful season. E.xhibits of all kinds 

 have shown an increase not only in quan- 

 tity but also in quality. In part this is 

 due to the favorable season but in a great 

 measure it is the result of past experi- 

 ence in making exhibits and in selecting 

 quality products. 



Middlefield 



Middlefield starts the fair season as 

 far as the county is concerned. This 

 year there seemed to be an increase in 

 the amount of livestock shown. Mr. 

 Parker who judged this department 

 stated that he had not been to the Middle- 

 field Pair for five years. He was sur- 

 prised to note the rapid advancement 

 made in practically all of the herds 

 shown. Better sires have had their effect 

 and results are indeed gratifying. 



In the hall the collections of vegetables 

 were better than in past years but there 

 is a great deal of room for improvement. 

 More local farmers should compete in these 

 classes and really do justice to the com- 

 munity. The potato class while good was 

 not as large as it should be. Regarding 

 fruit, the fair comes too early to have 

 a really good fruit show but this depart- 

 ment should either be built up or else 

 discontinued. We favor the former. The 

 poultry house was well filled and we won- 

 der if it would not be better to have fewer 

 fancy and more utility clas.ses. 



The drawing contests were as usual a 

 .source of interest and rightly so. The 

 competition in all classes was keen, the 

 winner usually being forced to the limit. 



Cummington Best in Years 



Cumniington has an ideal location for 

 a truly agricultural fair. Surrounded on 

 all sides by towns interested mainly in 

 agriculture, it has a fertile field from 

 which to draw. 



This year Cummington was better than 

 ever in all departments and drew record 

 crowds both days. All comments heard 

 concerning this fair were of praise and 

 rightly so. The cattle exhibits were goo>, 

 but more effort should be made to get a 

 larger showing. It is to be admitted that 



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