HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. IX. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JULY, 1924 



No. 7 



ALFALFA FIELDS VISITED 



Prof. Abbott Demonstrates 

 Soil Testing 



Alfalfa fields in South Hadley and in 

 Southampton were visited by groups of 

 fanners the evenings of June 12th and 

 13th. The South Hadley meeting was 

 held at the farm of Earl H. A. Bagg. 

 The Southampton meeting was in the 

 form of a field trip, visiting the farms 

 of M. .J. Madsen, W. A. Parsons, Leon 

 Fowles and Edward Searle. While 

 neither of the meetings were large, those 

 attending were convinced that alfalfa 

 can be a valuable hay crop on many of 

 the dairy farms of the county having 

 light, well drained soils. 



South Hadley Meeting 



Twenty dairy farmers of South Had- 

 ley and vicinity met at the farm of Earl 

 H. A. Bagg Thursday evening, -June 12 

 at 7:30 P. M. to in.spect his alfalfa fields. 

 There are about six acres in alfalfa from 

 one to three years old on the farm that 

 are well worth seeing. 



The first field visited was on the knoll 

 to the west of the farm buildings. Mr. 

 Bagg said that this field never gave very 

 satisfactory hay ci-ops so, in 1921, he 

 plowed it up after taking off a hay crop. 

 The whole field was manured at the rate 

 of 1.5 loads per acre and given some over 

 a ton of agricultural lime per acre. Early 

 in August the whole field was seeded, 

 using three different mixtures. Plot I 

 had 20 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre; 

 Plot II, 10 pounds Alfalfa, 10 pounds Red 

 Clover and 10 pounds Timothy; Plot III 

 was seeded with a mixture of Timothy, 

 Red Top, Red and Alsike clover. 



In 1922 plots I and II were cut three 

 times, giving about 5 tons of hay per 

 acre. Plot III gave a fine crop of clover. 

 Last year plots I and II gave about 4 tons 

 of hay in 3 cuttings, while plot III gave 

 about 3 tons in 2 cuttings. This year 

 plots I and II look as though they were 

 going to yield as well as last year. Plot 

 III has practically no clover in it but 

 will give a good crop of horse hay. Every 

 fall this whole field has been top-dressed 

 with manure. Plot I, where alfalfa was 

 sown alone, showed a lot of Kentucky 

 and Timothy. Mr. Bagg stated that the 

 second and third cuttings on both of 

 these plots were practically clear alfalfa. 

 Continued on page 3. column 1 



HOLYOKE PRODUCERS' DAIRY COMPANY 



20 DAIRY CLUB MEMBERS 

 WENT TO MT. HERMON 

 FROM HAMPSHIRE 



Hampshire County was well represent- 

 ed, in fact the best of any in the state. 

 Besides having 20 out of the 29 members 

 present a dozen or fifteen parents and 

 friends were there. Did we Kee nrii/thmg! 

 We saw .so many cows we dreamed about 

 them all night. Most of the cars arrived 

 at twelve o'clock. There were a few ex- 

 ceptions such as Suds West and Mr. Far- 

 ley and Mr. White who cut across and 

 couldn't wait for any one as slow as Bill 



('ont inucfl 



)n pn ^e t\. 



COUNTY PROJECT DAY 



Brings Large Attendance 



County Project Day, .June 18th, at 

 Laurel Park marked the end of this year's 

 project work. As Mrs. Clifton John.son, 

 chairman of the Advisory Council, said in 

 welcoming the women, "In one sense it 

 was the commencement exercises of the 

 ladies who had finished their project work 

 and although no diplomas were awarded 

 it marked another accomplishment in 

 their lives. 



The meeting began with community 

 singing led by Mrs. Edward Day of Hat- 

 field and Mrs. Fred Clark of Easthamp- 

 ton at the piano. The songs were real 

 Continued on page 4, column 1 



CO-OPERATIVE MILK 



MARKETING 



Holyoke Producers' Dairy Co. Re- 

 turns Fair Price to Members 



The Holyoke Producers Dairy Com- 

 pany, owned by .seventy Hampshire Coun- 

 ty farmers, furnishes a good illustration 

 of the benfits to be received from proper- 

 ly directed cooperative efforts. In 1923 

 it paid its members 8.47 cents a quart 

 for milk, delivered at its plant in South 

 Hadley. During April and May its 

 members i-eceived from .5.L to 6 cents per 

 quart foi' milk at their fai'ms, the differ- 

 ence in price being due to distance from 

 the plant. Instead of being a source of 

 irritation in the Holyoke market this 

 company has lived up to the golden rule 

 of cooperation, that is, it has "conducted 

 its affairs so that ethers could work with 

 it." In the three years that it has been 

 running, it has increased its business 

 from 4800 to 6-500 quarts of milk per 

 day. 



Market Found First 



The Holyoke Producers' Dairy Com- 

 pany differs in several ways from many 

 cooperatives. In the first place they 

 bought out four dealers who were deliv- 

 ering about 4800 quarts of milk a day. 

 After being sure of the market for this 

 amount of milk only enough producers 

 Continued on p:iKf 2, column 1 



