HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 

 Roland A. Payne, County Agent 

 Mildred W. Iloice, 



Home Demonstration Agent 

 Norman F. Whippen, County Cluli Agent 

 Mary C. O'Leary, Clerk 

 Nnry 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. 



"STotlce 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, ."lO cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, President 

 Chai-Ies E. Clark, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Roland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 



COUNTY NOTES 



In spite of poor weather, the Hamp- 

 shire-Franklin Holstein-Friesian Breed- 

 ers' Club had about forty members and 

 friends who took an auto trip through 

 Sunderland, Montague and Leverett. 

 At C. I. Gunn & Sons' farm in Sun- 

 derland, the alfalfa fields were visited 

 and Mr. Gunn explained his methods. 

 The outstanding point was that alfalfa 

 was growing successfully on very light 

 land which would not produce a good 

 crop of hay. Lunch was served at the 

 Bartlett Farm in Montague after which 

 a few short talks were given. In the 

 afternoon, the farms of W. F. Adams 

 and C. H. Beaman in Leverett were 

 visited. Every man interested in Hol- 

 steins is urged to attend these club meet- 

 ings. Plan to attend the next one. 



Can certified seed be grown in this 

 County? There are a few who say it can 

 but the majority say that it cannot. In 

 fact, as far as local experience is con- 

 cerned, the latter can present a strong 

 case showing it never has been done. 

 Five men tried it this year and failed. 

 The reason for failure was that the seed 

 used, while capable of producing a fine 

 crop of table .stock, had so much mosaic 



and leaf roll that it could not be logued 

 profitably. These men are now planning 

 to get better parent stock this next year. 

 We believe that they will demonstrate 

 that certified seed can be grown in Hamp- 

 shire County. 



The Northampton Community Market 

 has had a successful season in that the 

 volume of business has been above former 

 years. It is encouraging to notice that 

 the farmers who have been using the 

 market the longest have made the great- 

 est strides in raising the quality of the 

 products offered. The market slogan of 

 "Fresh Farm Products at Fair Prices" 

 certainly has found favor with the con- 

 sumers. We believe that the market will 

 continue to be successful as long as this 

 plan is followed. 



Three years ago the County Agent 

 visited a certain town with the Poultry 

 Specialist from the college. At about 

 every stop, birds were found heavily in- 

 fected with woiTns. This year these same 

 farms were visited and fine lots of pullets 

 were found. What makes the difference? 

 We do not believe it is entirely due to the 

 weather as there aie some men in the 

 town who still have trouble. It is simply 

 that these men have raised their pullets 

 on clean ground. In this case, a small 

 plot of clean ground is worth pounds of 

 worm remedies. Better try it next year! 



This year a good many demonstrations 

 did not demonstrate. For example, men 

 set out tobacco plants infected with wild- 

 fire and yet there was no wildfire to be 

 found in the field at harvest time. The 

 men who sprayed potatoes for blight were 

 no better off than those who did not. 

 Scab was about the same on apple trees 

 that were sprayed once as on the trees 

 that were sprayed three times. We hope 

 that these farmers will not draw the con- 

 clusion that these things were not worth 

 while. Another year may tell a different 

 story ! 



We hope that the men who have done 

 well this year will see their way clear to 

 buy more efficient spray outfits for next 

 season or, if they already have good equip- 

 ment, that they will make full use of it 

 next year. 



W. H. Morey of Cummington has an 

 orchard. For several years past, scab 

 has been a real problem. This year, part 

 of the trees were pruned heavily and 

 sprayed with both the pink and pre-pink 

 sprays. While it was not impossible to 

 find scab, the amount of diseased fruit 

 was small. Several customers have told 

 Mr. Morey that his apples this year were 

 the best he ever raised. This will work 

 two ways. These satisfied customers will 

 tell others, thus increasing the demand. 

 Also Mr. Morey's interest is awakened 

 and better fruit will be produced another 

 year. 



Most people believe a salesman to be 

 a fellow with a "line" that will .sell palm 

 leaf fans to the Esquimos. C. E. Stiles 



of South Amherst certainly does not 

 measure up to the above specifications 

 but he sure can sell apples. Several fac- 

 tors enter into his success. In the first 

 I place, he produces as fine apples as any 

 man in the county. When one sees the 

 top of a basket of apples put up on his 

 place, he sees a fair sample of the whole 

 package. His roadside stand is attrac- 

 tive. Before .it, he always has a large 

 display of apples with the price plainly 

 marked. The prices, too, are fair — more 

 than wholesale and less than consumers 

 can get the same grade of goods delivered 

 to theii- houses by retailers. When it 

 comes to talking, Mr. Stiles does not have 

 his tongue pivoted in the middle and wag- 

 gling on both ends. The acid test of 

 salc'^manship is continued business. Cus- 

 tomers come back to this farm and with 

 them come otheis. In fact, the entire 

 peach and apple crop of this farm is^ 

 marketed right at the door. 



rlierkinK the Pullet >loiil( 



t_"'ontiniied from page 1. column 3 

 abundance to make transition from range 

 feeding habits less abrupt and to develop 

 food capacity. With ample grain and 

 green feed, mash in open hoppers will not 

 be over eaten. 



As production increases and the weath- 

 er gets cooler and the feeding day short- 

 ens, care needs to be exercised that early 

 matured pullets do not maintain produc- 

 tion at the expense of body weight. Cold 

 weathei- requires more energy and long 

 nights lessen the hours of feeding, yet 

 the reproductive instinct urges the bird 

 on to produce — to continue laying by 

 drawing on body reserve until health is 

 broken, eggs cease, and a moult begins. 

 Such is the origin of the fall moult in 

 early hatched pullets. It is controlled 

 or prevented by judicious feeding. In- 

 crease in grain feeding with egg produc- 

 tion and with cold weather to maintain a 

 constantly increasing body weight. The 

 fall moults is a feeding problem ; the .solu- 

 tion being more feed and artificial illumi- 

 nation, for light is an aid to feeding. 

 Don't you believe it? How would you 

 like breakfast at eight, dinner at noon, 

 supper at four — and to have to lay an 

 egg in the morning! 



Prof. Wm. C. Monahan. 



Ordering; h^ertili/.er 



r.imiiiued from page 1. column 2 

 on 100 pounds to the acre. He also ob- 

 tains an additional two units of plant 

 food at a very attractive figure. By 

 using even a higher analysis and applying 

 less to the acre, the savings ai-e greater. 

 As the applications increase in pounds 

 per acre, so also will the savings ob- 

 tained by using high analysis fertilizer-^ 

 I increase. 



"High analysis fertilizer makes it pos- 

 sible for the manufacturer to effect 

 Tontinued an p.-ige 3. column 3 



