HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. VIII. 



NORTHAMPTON. MASS., DECEMBER, 1923 



No. 12 



POISONING FIELD MICE ! 

 IN ORCHARDS 



Hxpert tfxplains Efficient Method Suc = 

 cessfully Used in Other Sections 



A .small yet representing group of fruit 

 growers met at W. H. Atkins' orchard 

 in South Amherst to see Mr. Carlyle 

 Carr of the Bureau of Biological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C. demonstrate the use 

 of strychnine as a poison to control field 

 mice in orchards. 



The following was in the information 

 given : 



Preparation of Bait 



Mix together, dry, I ounce of powdered 

 strychnine and J ounce of baking soda. 

 Sift the strychnine-soda mixture over 1 

 quart of rolled oats, stirring constantly 

 to insure an even distribution of the 

 poi-son through the grain. Heat the 

 poisoned rolled oats in an oven until 

 thoroughly warm. Mix S parts of melted 

 beef fat with 1 part of melted paraffin, 

 and sprinkle 6 tablespoonfuls of this mix- 

 ture over the warm poisoned rolled oats, 

 mixing until the oats are evenly coated. 

 Allow the grain to cool, then it is ready 

 for use. If large quantities of the bait 

 are needed, use 1 ounce of strychnine, 1 

 ounce of .soda, 8 quarts of rolled oats, 

 and 1 1 pints of the beef- fat-paraffin mix- 

 ture. About 1 quart of the poisoned bait 

 is needed for 100 trees. 



It is very important that in applying 

 the coating the beef-fat-paraffin mixture 

 be hot and the poisoned rolled oats be 

 thoroughly warm, otherwise it will not 

 be possible to obtain an even coating. 

 Lard may' be used instead of the beef 

 fat but it is not as good. 



Tablespoonful quantites of the poisoned 

 rolled-oat baits should be placed in small 

 containei-s or stations to protect them 

 from the weather, and these should be 

 distributed over the infested area. The 

 poisoned baits may also be scattered 

 along runways and into entrances of bur- 

 rows, a teaspoonful at a place. In orchards 

 where mice are abundant it is advisable 

 to place one poison container under each 

 tree. These should be set close to the 

 base of the tree to escape cultivating 

 machinery and should be lightly covered 

 with vegetation, px'unings, or some other 

 material that will afford harborage for 

 Continued on pa^e lo. column 1 



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Hampsbtre County 

 i6.tten9ion Service 



STRONG PROGRAM 

 PRESENTED AT 

 ANNUAL MEETING 



"Info each life some raiii miisl fall" 

 The Hampshire County Extension 

 Service had a practical demonstration of 

 this fact when the attendance at the An- 

 nual Meeting held in Odd Fellows Hall, 

 Northampton, Thursday, November 22, 

 was greatly reduced on account of rain. 

 It was the opinion of those attending that 

 this was the best agricultural meeting of 

 the year. 



President E. B. Clapp of the Trustees 

 opened the meeting with a few well chosen 

 words of welcome, after which reports 

 were made by the Extension Service 

 Agents. The following repoits were 

 given by Project Leaders and Demon- 

 strators : 



Alfalfa Production — 



George Burt, Westhampton. 



Meal Planning — 



Mrs. A. L. Moore, Huntington. 



Potato Production — 



H. L. Merritt, Chesterfield. 



Calf Club Work- 

 Christine Osley, Hatfield. 



Poultry Disease Control — 

 Fred Lego, Greenwich. 



Continued on page 10, column 1 



PRUNING MEETINGS HELD 



Prof. Frederick Cole Demonstrates New 

 and Practical Ideas 



At a pruning demonstration held re- 

 cently we heard the following statement, 

 "This is the first time I've ever been to 

 a meeting of this kind and really felt 

 satisfied. In the past you folks would 

 stay half an hour, prune a tree and then 

 drive like mad for some other place." 

 Thereby hangs a tale. 



In the past, pruning demonstrations 

 have been held in the spring. By the 

 time the roads wei-e in condition to be 

 travelled, other work was piling up. 

 This made it necessary to hurry. This 

 fall we planned and carried out pruning 

 demonstrations with Professor Frederick 

 E. Cole of the Mass. Agricultural College 

 at which plenty of time was taken to 

 show the Hows and Whys of pruning. 

 Attendance at these meetings have been 

 .small which is a good point. This gives 

 an opportunity to give each man more 

 personal attention. Besides this, every- 

 one who attended has all winter to put 

 the ideas into practice. We hope that a 

 larger number will do so than in the past 

 as there certainly is need for this work. 



Professor Cole has been stressing the 

 following points: Few fruit growers 

 have the time to prune all their trees, 

 hence the work that is done should be of 

 vital importance. On mature trees this 

 means making a few well chosen cuts 

 .so that sunlight may be let into all parts 

 of the tree. This not only results in 

 better colored fruit but also makes pos- 

 sible the more efficient control of insect 

 and fungus troubles. 



Everyone has noticed pine trees stand- 

 ing alone'. The branches are a good dis- 

 tance apai't .so that the light gets between 

 them. The same idea holds for apple 

 trees. Keep the bearing gi-owth in planes 

 but have these spaced far enough apart 

 so that sunlight may reach all pai-ts. 

 Each plane of bearing wood may be fairly 

 thick in itself but it must be shallow .so 

 as not to keep the sunlight from other 

 planes. (If you don't understand this, 

 a.sk about it). 



The other problem confronts fruit 

 growers who have started trees in the 

 past few years. The idea was to have 

 open trees. The same idea still holds even 

 though the method differs. In the past 

 Continupfl on piiKc S. column 1 



