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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Slrongr l*rO)j?riini Pre.sentefl at Anniiiil 

 Meeting 



Continued from page 11, rnliinm 2 



counts. You can't expect to come out 

 on top every year. If you stick to the 

 game there is just as good an outlook 

 for the farmer as there is for the busi- 

 ness man. Last year I had the mis- 

 fortune of losing my whole crop, due to 

 fertilizer burn, but I was not discouraged. 

 I went back this year and more than made 

 up what I lost. One man who had poor 

 luck last year raised just enough pota- 

 toes for his own use this year and got at 

 the rate of 350 bu.shels to the acre. This 

 .<howed that if he had gone back into the 

 game this year, he would have made good. 

 "Potato production is hard work and 

 there are some things which must be 

 kept in mind: (1) Through preparation 

 of the seed bed, the tractor and harrow 

 help me more than anything else. (2) 

 use good certified seed. (3) Don't try to 

 save on seed. Use a good supply. Seven- 

 teen 01- eighteen bushels to the acre has 

 proven to me to be the best way to plant. 

 (4) Disinfect seed with corrosive sub- 

 limate. (.5) Spray without ceasing." 



George Burt Deinonstrates Alfalfa Can 

 Be Grown in Westhampton 



"In August 1921, I seeded about an 

 acre to Alfalfa. This piece is a light 

 sandy knoll which never grew a very good 

 hay crop but which would give a fair 

 crop of silage corn. It gave about a 

 ton of hay in 1921. After this was 

 hai-vested, the piece was plowed August 

 first. Seventeen spreader loads of ma- 

 nure and a ton of lime were harrowed in 

 and the piece seeded with 20 pounds of 

 Alfalfa and 10 pounds of Timothy. The 

 timothy was used to insure a stand and 

 also to increase the yield. The alfalfa 

 -seed was inoculated both with soil and 

 pure culture obtained from the Agricul- 

 tural College. 



"Early in May the piece was top- [ 

 dressed with 100 pounds nitrate of soda 

 and 500 pounds of acid phosphate. The 

 resulting crop gave 3 tons of field cured 

 hay to the acre. As pastures were short, 

 the piece was then cut daily for green feed ! 

 so no further yields wei-e taken. As a 

 green feed, it increased milk production 

 10 per cent. This fall the whole piece 

 has a good cover as it grew faster than 

 the cows could handle it. This year an- 

 other piece was seeded and a little alfalfa 

 used in the mixture. This has done well 

 too. Next year another field will be 

 .seeded to the alfalfa-timothy mixture." 



Poultry Disease Control 



Henry Lego and his son Fred of Gi-een- 

 wich have carried on the outstanding 

 poultry disease control demonstration of 

 the year. Fred Lego gave the following 

 report at the annual meeting: 



"My father started in the poultry busi- 

 ness 15 years ago with 50 breeding hens 

 and 100 chickens. The buildings on the 

 farm were in poor condition and the place 



was pretty well run out. The business 

 increased so that in 1913, between 1,500 

 and 1,800 chickens were hatched, a few 

 hundred being sold as day-old chicks. 



1917 was our first year of trouble. In 



1918 it was worse. In the sea.son of 

 1920-1921, we cleared less than $200 on 

 450 pullets. 



"In the spring of 1922, I attended a 

 demonstration meeting at Mr. Drink- 

 water's farm in Greenwich. Professor 

 Monahan .^^howed that the cause of the 

 trouble in our section was from intestinal 

 worms and advised us to grow our chick- 

 ens on new land. Our chicks were al- 

 ready hatched and as our brooder houses 

 could not be moved, we tried growing the 

 chickens in yards to the rear of the 

 houses. In this way we got through bet- 

 ter than we had in previous years. In 

 the fall, however, half of the pullets had 

 worms and were marketed. Even with 

 this handicap, we cleared $1,000 above 

 expenses. 



"This spring we built 6 new portable 

 brooder houses and these were moved a 

 quai'ter of a mile up the road to new 

 land. We knew what damage worms 

 could do. so we took every possible pre- 

 caution. All the chicks were fed mash 

 and grain in hoppers. Before entering 

 the range, everyone had their choice of 

 either walking through a pan of corrosive 

 sublimate solution or else keeping out. 

 This was necessary to avoid infection 

 , being carried to the range on the shoes. 



"Every chicken that died was cut open 

 and inspected for trouble, but no worms 

 could be found. As an extra precaution, 

 8 pounds of tobacco dust was mixed in 

 every hundred pounds of mash and used 

 one week out of every month. At the 

 end of the week when the tobacco was 

 j used, the birds got a dose of epsom salts 

 in their drinking water. 



"As a result 1,100 A-1 pullets have 

 I been raised. At the present time, Nov- 

 ember 22, they are laying over 30 dozen 



of eggs a day. Cement floors were put 

 in all the laying houses so as to keep the 

 pullets from being reinfected from con- 

 taminated dirt floors. Floors and drop- 

 ping boards were disinfected wth cor- 

 ro.sive sublimate, then the whole house 

 was whitewashed and hen wire put under 

 the roosts so that the pullets could not 

 become infected through the droppings. 

 "We now have capacity to raise 4,000 

 chicks and to house 2,500 laying hens. 

 Without the aid of the Extension Service, 

 Profes.sor Monahan and the Federal Land 

 Bank, we would have met with failure." 



SEWING AND HANDICRAFT 

 AT BONDSVILLE 



Forty-five boys and girls will be 

 organized into clubs at Miss Nellie Shea's 

 school at Bondsville in January. 



Smith School, Smith Academy and 

 Hopkins Academy will have poultry clubs. 



STOP GUESSING! KNOW! 



We want you to use our 



Pou!try Account Service 



We have a simple yet efficient book. 

 Monthly reports are required. You 

 receive a summary showing state 

 and county averages to compare 

 with your own figures. Entire book 

 will be summarized at end of twelve 

 months. Forty-nine people used this 

 service last year. 100 books are 

 available now. 



ORDER YOURS NOW ! 



Send 25 Cents to 

 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



EXTENSION SERVICE 





GOOD SEEDS ARE NEEDED 



If your ciop.s are to meet your expectations. For years we 

 have purchased our seed stock from one concern. We know 

 them to be reliable. Our sales of seeds, especially Onion seed, 

 are increasing every year. Your neighbors are satisfied with 

 the seeds they buy from us. 



GIVE us A CHANCE ON YOUR NEXT SEED ORDER 



FOSTER-FARRAR COMPANY 



Jb2 MAIN STREET 

 NORTHAMPTON 



MASS. 



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