HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



NEWS OF THE FARM BUREAU 



AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL 



MAY BE ORGANIZED 



The establishment of an agricultural 

 council made up of representatives of the 

 various commodity organizations of the 

 state is one of the big projects which the 

 Farm Bureau might well set out to ac- 

 complish. This is the opinion of county 

 extension service managers and State Di- 

 rector John D. Willard as expressed at 

 a recent conference with Pres. Howard 

 S. Russell and Secretary Fred D. Griggs 

 of the Federation. The purpose of the 

 informal get-together was^ a discussion of 

 the Farm Bureau's program of work. 



The idea would be that the Farm Bu- 

 reau is a natural clearing house for all 

 agricultural activities. It includes all 

 types in its membership, dairymen, fruit- 

 growers, poultrymen, market gardeners, 

 tobacco growers, onion raisers and gen- 

 eral food producers. Each of these 

 groups has its own organization, too, such 

 as the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation, the State Vegetable Growers' 

 Association, and so on. 



It is suggested that much duplication 

 of effort could be avoided through a cor- 

 relation of programs. This would be es- 

 pecially tixie regarding legislation. Con- 

 ferences along this line have already been 

 called in the past. 



The same saving of time and money 

 might be made through one over-head 

 organization to do the legal, traffic, pub- 

 licity, office and field service work. The 

 Farm Bureau has the potential facilities. 

 It would be not unlike a State Chamber 

 of Commerce with its various traffic, 

 credit, retail mei-chant and other bureaus. 



An added advantage is that the Farm 

 Bureau is affiliated with a great national 

 body which, in turn, offers exceptional 

 service. 



County Parm Bureaus hold Council 

 Meetings 



iVIiddlesex County will hold the first 

 annual farm bureau meeting of the year. 

 Saturday, November 17, is the date and 

 Waltham is the place. The morning pro- 

 gram includes a joint session with the 

 County Extension Service followed by a 

 "grown-in-Middlesex dinner" featuring 

 chicken as the meat course. The after- 

 noon will be given over to business in- 

 cluding committee reports and election of 

 officers. 



Plymouth County will be only a few 

 days later with its annual meeting at 

 Halifax, on Wednesday, November 21. 

 Cooperative marketing will be discussed 

 by several speakers in the morning with 

 special reference to poultry and poultry 

 products. The Grange will serve a din- 

 ner at noon after which George M. Put- 



nam, President of the New Hampshire 

 Farm Bureau Federation will give an 

 address. Mr. Putnam represents New 

 England on the National Executive Com- 

 mittee. He is therefore, exceedingly well 

 posted on Farm Bureau affairs. 



Most of the other county organizations 

 will hold their annual meetings in Decem- 

 ber. Details are being arranged at ex- 

 ecutive committee meetings this month. 



FARMERS TO STUDY 



EUROPEAN CONDITIONS 



A farm bureau committee sailed on the 

 Leviathan, Saturday, October 20th, for 

 i Europe. This committee will study 

 European conditions through the eyes of 

 the farmers. Four men are making the 

 trip. They are George A. Starring, sec- 

 retary of the South Dakota Parm Bureau 

 Federation ; Murray D. Lincoln, secretary 

 of the Ohio Federation; E. B. Cornwall, 

 president of the Vermont Federation ; and 

 Gray Silvei-, Washington repre.sentative 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. The committee was accompained by 

 Theodore M. Knappen, well-known maga- 

 zine and newspaper wTiter. 



A rapid survey of conditions, particu- 

 larly as they effect the markets of the 

 American farmer in England, France, 

 Germany, Poland, Norway, Denmark, 

 Sweden and Finland will be made by the 

 committee. 



"We have had many conflicting reports 

 regarding the European situation in all 

 its phases and desire to make a study of 

 it first hand", said Gray Silver. "We 

 propose to look into the possibility of in- 

 creasing our market abroad for our ex- 

 portable surplus of wheat and other com- 

 modities ; to ascertain the causes of the 

 falling off of exports and to learn how 

 quickly agricultural production will be 

 rehabilitated in Russia and other Euro- 

 pean countries and just when we may 

 expect them to enter the market in a 

 larger volume. 



"It will be a hurried trip for we will 

 return shortly after Congress convenes. 

 But by using automobiles we expect to 

 secure a large amount of first hand in- 

 formation which will be invaluable to us 

 from any standpoint. 



Murray Lincoln is a Massachusetts boy 

 and hails originally from Plymouth Coun- 

 ty. He is a graduate of the Agricultural 

 College at Amherst. Transplanted to 

 Ohio, he has already made a name for 

 himself in the Buckeye State. 



Have You Heard Them ? 



The American Faim Bureau Federa- 

 tion has instituted a national farm bureau 

 radio service from Station KYW, Chicago. 

 Talks by FaiTn Bureau Leaders are given 

 at 8.01 p. m. each Tuesday night.- This 



means 9 o'clock by our time. Let's see 

 who can pick up one of these messages 

 first here in Massachusetts. The KYW 

 wave length is given as 536. 



Bureau Interested in Town Forests 



Farm Bureau leaders throughout the 

 State are tremendously interested in doing 

 something to bring about the reforesta- 

 tion of waste land. William P. Wharton 

 of Groton, chairman of the Federation's 

 legislative committee, and Howard P. Gil- 

 more of Westboro, pi-esident of the Wor- 

 cester County Farm Bureau, recently 

 conferred with Department of Conserva- 

 tion officials on this and other related 

 matters. The town forest plan was 

 talked and it was agreed that it should 

 be pushed as hard as possible. 



Have You Sent in Yours ? 



Members throughout the state who have 

 thus far neglected to send in their mem- 

 bership dues for the current year are 

 being appealed to by President Howard 

 S. Russell of the Fedei-ation in letters 

 sent out from the Boston office. Not all 

 of the counties have sent in lists of their 

 delinquents as yet but the others will soon 

 do so. Responses thus far are gratifying. 



Says President Russell, "There are 

 many reasons why we hope you will pay 

 at once. In the first place, the basis 

 of Farm Bureau work is adequate finan- 

 cial support. The great results that have 

 come thi'ough Farm Bureau efFoi't have 

 been possible only because we have been 

 able to attract the brains and energy of 

 men of ability to look after our interests 

 in such matters as legislation, transpor- 

 tation, taxation and cooperative effort. 



"There's a real satisfaction for us 

 farmers in standing on our own feet and 

 fighting our battles through our own or- 

 ganization. We tried to be careful in the 

 beginning to sign up members who would 

 "stick" and who would make good on their 

 promises to pay dues. Then we went 

 ahead and framed a most economical 

 budget. 



"As the close of the year approaches, 

 we have many bills to pay. The Ameri- 

 can Farm Bureau Federation also needs 

 funds. Our only income is from mem- 

 bership dues so we are counting on them 

 from all who have overlooked the matter." 



Orilerin^ FerHli/.er 



Cnntinucd from p;ig*p 2. column 3 



economy in operation and reduce the cost 

 of plant food per unit. Only the vei-y 

 highest type of raw materials can be used 

 in high analysis mixtures. The farmer 

 purchases more plant food of the best 

 quality obtainable at less cost and cuts 

 his freight charges about half. Economy 

 in the fertilizer investment without starv- 

 ing the crop is possible for the farmer 

 who uses high analysis fertilizer." 



