HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. IX. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JANUARY, 1924 



No. 1 



BUY FERTILIZER j 



ECONOMICALLY 



Prof, .1. B. Abbott Gives Timely Ad\ice 



It is customary to state the plant food 

 content of a fertilizer in terms of per- j 

 centages of ammonia, available phos- 

 phoric acid and potash in the order given. 

 Thus a 4-8-4 grade means 4 per cent am- 

 monia, 8 per cent avaible phosphoric acid, 

 and 4 per cent potash. It is to be es- 

 pecially noted that the first figure rep- 

 resents ammonia rather the nitrogen. 

 This being a general trade custom, it will 

 be followed in this leaflet. 



How to Buy Plant Food bconomically 



The first essential in buying fertilizers 

 economically is to know, as accurately as 

 possible, what is needed and what is not 

 needed, and to buy no unnecessary ma- 

 terials. The purchase of acid phosphate 

 in preference to a mixed fertilizer for 

 corn on well-manured land is an outstand- 

 ing illustration of this point. The ma- 

 nure supplies all the ammonia and potash 

 which the corn crop needs, or, at any rate, 

 all that it will pay for, but is low in 

 available phosphoric acid. Acid phos- 

 phate will supply the needed phosphoric 

 acid at about 64 cents a pound, whereas 

 in a typical corn fertilizer, in which the 

 nitrogen and potash are virtually wasted 

 for corn on well-manured land, the cost 

 per pound of phosphoric acid is around 

 15 cents. Paying out good money for 

 plant foods which are not needed, and 

 Tience not eflfective in increasing crop 

 yields, is poor economy. 



The second point in buying economical- 

 ly is to buy high-grade goods always in 

 preference to low-grade goods. The cost 

 of mixing, bagging, selling, shipping and 

 collecting the bill is the same for a ton 

 of low-grade as for a ton of high-grade 

 goods, but because the low-grade goods 

 contain fewer pounds of plant food in a 

 ton, these overhead charges amount to a 

 great deal more per pound of plant food 

 in the low-grade goods, .i^ssuming, for 

 example, that this overhead cost is ■$1.5 

 a ton, in the case of a 2-8-2 fertilizer it 

 amounts to a charge of about 6 cents on 

 each pound of plant food, while in the 

 case of a 3-12-3 fertilizer it amounts to 

 only about 4 cents per pound of plant 

 food. Money spent unnecessarily for 



Continued on page !), column 1 



Schmidt's Barn Made a Fine Hen House 



BOYS WIN AT BOSTON 



POULTRY SHOW 



Team scores 140 points over 2nd team. 



Roger West Best Judge in Sho« . 



New York Contest Next. 



Roger West, Osborne West and Den- 

 nett Howe, poultiy judges, showed ability 

 at Mechanics Hall, Boston, on .January 

 2nd in picking out superior birds. They 

 were asked to place three classes of 

 utility birds and three classes of fancy 

 birds. The utility classes were composed 

 of Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, and 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks. Each class had 

 five birds. The fancy classes were com- 

 posed of White Wyandottes, Rhode Island 

 Red Cockerels, and Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks. Roger West excelled in the in- 

 dividual scores by scoring -505 out of a 

 possible GOO. Osborne West stood third 

 place by scoring 4.5.5 and Dennett Howe 

 .scored 350. The team scored 1,320 out 

 of a possible 1,800. The teams taking 

 second scored 1,180 points. 



In the contest were 12 other teams 

 from various counties of Massachusetts 

 and we feel that it is considerable credit 

 to these three boys to place first. This 

 is the second time in succession that 

 Hampshire County teams have taken first 

 honors in Boston. Although poultry 

 judging is by no means everything in 

 Continued on p.ige 6 column 3 



A PROFITABLE EGG PLANT 



lidward L. Schmidt Makes a Business 

 of Egg Production 



You have probably heard the old story 

 about the man who was considerably 

 elated becau.se his wife told him that he 

 was a model husband. A friend sug- 

 gested, as friends will, that he look up 

 the definition of "model." This is what 

 he found in the dictionary: "model — a 

 small imitation of the real thing." Ed- 

 ward L. Schmidt of Belchertown does not 

 run a model poultry plant. It is the real 

 thing! Others might well model their 

 plants after his. 



Six years ago, Mr. Schmidt began keep- 

 ing poultry in Belchertown. At that time 

 about 200 hens were kept as a side line. 

 Dui-ing- the war a remarkably high re- 

 turn per bird was received. This led 

 him to believe that if he could increase 

 his flock, poultry could become the main 

 source of income. Now there are over 

 1,000 pullets on the farm that just simply 

 feel that they must lay. 



One of the many ways in which this 

 farm diff'ers from most other poultry, 

 plants is that no effort is made to re- 

 produce the flock on the farm. Early 

 in March, day old chicks are purchased 

 from breeders who test their birds for 

 white diarrhea. Instead of having chicks 

 of sixteen different ages, they are all 

 bought in one or two lots so that there 

 r'ontinued on pa^c S. column 1 



