HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



NEWS OF THE FARM BUREAU 



COUNTY EXECUTIVE 

 COMMITTEE PLANS 



WORK FOR 1924 



President A. D. Montague of West- 

 hampton called a meeting of the County 

 executive committee January 31. Josiah 

 Parsons of Noi-thampton and E. P. West 

 of Hadley were appointed a committee to 

 make arrangements with the North 

 Dakota Farm Bureau for a horse auc- 

 tion to be held in Northampton the latter 

 part of March. Two years ago a similar 

 .sale was held with satisfactory results. 



President Montague and Secretary 

 Fred Bean of Florence were appointed 

 delegates to attend the New England 

 Farm Bureau conference in Hartford 

 February 15 and 16. 



Plans are being made for a meeting of 

 all of the town directors early in March 

 to plan local work for the coming year. 



''News" again in March 

 By vote of the Executive Committee the 

 State office will begin publication once 

 again of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau 

 Federation News. This will be issued 

 each month beginning with a March 

 number. It will be sent direct to each 

 paid-up member. Starting in March the 

 Farm Bureau page in the Hampshire 

 County Farmers' Monthly will be dis- 

 continued, as it would be a duplication 

 of the State paper. 



CHANDLER, NEW PRESIDENT 



The unanimous choice of John Chand- 

 ler of Sterling Junction to succeed How- 

 ard S. Russell of Wayland, as President 

 of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Fed- 

 eration, bi'ought to close the annual meet- 

 ing held in Worcester, Tuesday, January 

 15. There were many expressions of re- 

 gret at Mr. Russell's retirement, but on 

 account of the demands made upon him 

 by his Market Garden business he would 

 not consent to another term. 



The new President, who is a young 

 man, is amply qualified to take up the 

 work where Mr. Russell left off. Mr. 

 Chandler, who is a Yale man, is already 

 well-known throughout Worcester Coun- 

 ty. He has a large orchard, which has 

 only recently come into bearing. He is a 

 "dirt farmer", and six o'clock each morn- 

 ing finds him milking a string of Hol- 

 steins. Associated with him in the busi- 

 ness is his college chum, Edward C. Lord. 

 He is already regarded as one of the lead- 

 ing poultry men of the State. Mr. Lord 

 incidentally is Secretary-Treasurer of the 

 Worcester County Farm Bui-eau. A. D. 

 Montague of Westhampton is a member 

 of the executive committee. 



Aside from the usual annual reports 

 considei-able interest was centered on the 

 address of President Oscar E. Bradfute 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federa- 

 tion. Mr. Bradfute outlined the History 

 of the Federation and declared the func- 

 tioning of the Federation as a clearing 

 house for the organized effort of the 

 farmer. "The other fellow is not going 

 to solve our problems, he cannot see them 

 as we do," he said. 



"The need for cooperative marketing 

 for farmers is not to control the price. 

 That is impossible. The value of coop- 

 erative selling lies in the improvement of 

 quality in our product, followed up by 

 grading and merchandising instead of 

 simply dumping crops on the market." 



Mr. Bradfute stressed particularly the 

 need for farmers working together, in 

 this connection, he said, "Twelve city 

 business men with twelve different opin- 

 ions will get around a table, and in one 

 hour will agree on a united program. It 

 used to be that twelve farmers vpith 

 twelve different opinions would get 

 around a table for twelve hours and ad- 

 journ still holding twelve different opin- 

 ions. This situation, as regards the 

 fanner, is rapidly passing, due largely 

 to the Farm Bureau." 



Resolutions Adopted 



Five specific resolutions were unani- 

 mously adopted by the State Federation 

 at its annual meeting. They have to do 

 very largely with legislative matters. 

 Here they are: 



(1) That the Massachusetts Fai-m 

 Bureau Federation endorses the recom- 



I mendation of the Governor for a complete 

 j investigation of the food supply in Massa- 

 I chusetts, and favors an appropriation 

 I therefor. 



(2) That the Federation reiterates 

 its opposition to any increase in the num- 

 ber of immigrants permitted to enter the 

 United States ; and favors a change from 

 the census of 1910 to that of 1890, or an 

 earlier one as a basis for figuring quotas. 

 We further believe that prospective im- 

 migrants should be examined before leav- 

 ing their homelands. 



(3) That the Federation endorses the 

 legislative program recommended by the 

 conference of Agi-icultural Organizations 

 held in Worcester in November, and in- 

 structs its legislative committee to sup- 

 port this program before the Legislature. 



(4) That the Massachusetts Farm 

 Bureau Federation deplores the hamper- 

 ing of the work of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College under the present 

 interpretation of the existing laws re- 

 garding administration. We urge that 

 every effort be made to secure greater 

 fi-eedom under the present laws for the 

 exercise of judgment by those in direct 

 responsibility for the College. Should 



this appear impossible under existing 

 laws, we recommend such changes in 

 legislation as will enable the College to 

 perform effectively the duties and 

 services which are expected of it. 



(5) That the Massachusetts Farm 

 Bureau Federation recognizes and highly 

 values the services rendered by William 

 P. Wharton, of Groton, as Chairman of 

 its Legislative Committee for the past 

 three years, and tenders to him its sin- 

 cere thanks. 



TRI-STATE PLAN FAVORED 



Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode 

 Island may -SOon join hands in the em- 

 ployment of a full time farm bureau ex- 

 ecutive and in the establishment of a tri- 

 state office. This plan was unanimously 

 approved at the annual meeting of the 

 Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation 

 by the delegates. Two days later Con- 

 necticut voted similar approval at its an- 

 nual session in Hartford, Connecticut. 

 Rhode Island will not pass upon it offi- 

 cially until its regular meeting in March, 

 but President Harry E. Lewis says that 

 "there is no question but that the mem- 

 bers will approve provided financial con- 

 ditions are right". 



It is exnected that the tri-state office, 

 if it is established, will be located either 

 at Springfield, Massachusetts, or Hart- 

 ford, Connecticut. The secretary, by 

 making his home at either one of these 

 two cities would have no difficulty in 

 coveiing the territory. Final arrange- 

 ments will be made by a committee con- 

 sisting of President John Chandler and 

 Secretary Fred D. Griggs of Massachu- 

 setts, President Walter C. Wood and 

 Vice-President S. McLean Buckingham of 

 Connecticut and two representatives of 

 Rhode Island, yet to be named. 



Annual Meeting Notes 



The Treasurer's report showed total 

 receipts of .$11,257.05, with total expendi- 

 tures .of $10 611.15, leaving a balance of 

 $645.90. Loans from the Counties, 

 $1,543.65, are the only outstanding liabili- 

 ties. This is a considerable improvement 

 over the financial situation of last year. 



An amendment to the State Constitu- 

 tion was adopted, whereby the Treasur- 

 er's records would be audited by a com- 

 mittee appointed by the president, in- 

 stead of a public accountant. This will 

 mean an annual saving of at least $50, 

 and the work of the committee will ac- 

 complish the same end. 



The report of the Committee on coop- 

 erative buying was supplemented by a 

 few words from Howard W. Selby. Man- 

 ager of the Eastern States Farmers' Ex- 

 change. He said, "Last year we got 

 $900,000 credit from banks on 11,000 dif- 

 Continued on page 7. column 1 



