HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



FARMERS' MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Trustees for Aid to 

 Agriculture 



STAFF 

 Roland A. Payne, County Agent 

 Mildred W. Boice, 



Home Demonstration Agent 

 Norman V. AVIiipfien, County Club Agent 

 Mary Diniond, Clerk 

 Mary Sulli^'nn, AKst. Clerk 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9, 

 1915. at the Post Office at Northampton, 

 Massachusetts, under the Act of March 

 8. 1879. 



"Notice of Entry" 

 "Acceptance for mailing at special rate 

 of postage provided for in section 1103, 

 Act of October 3, 1917. Authorized Oc- 

 tober 31, 1917. 



Priee, r>0 centK a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Edwin B. Clapp, President 

 Charles E. Clark, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Roland A. Payne, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthampton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 

 Charles W. Wade, Hatfield 

 W. H. Atkins, Amherst 



Co-operative Milli Marketing 



Continued from page 1. column 3 



were signed up to furnish the necessary 

 amount. It was the opinion of many that 

 the farmers paid too much for what they 

 got. The members feel differently as 

 they have a constant market for a stated 

 amount of milk every day in the year. 



Other cooperatives have tried to save 

 the initial cost of a market by signing up 

 all of the milk in sight before finding a 

 market for it. The u.sual result is that 

 they find themselves "all dressed up with 

 no place to go." Then, to get business, 

 they usually have to cut prices or turn 

 an excessive amount of milk into by-pro- 

 ducts, all of which cost money. The 

 farmer members have to pay this cost 

 through decreased milk checks. 



Surplus Regulated 



The members of the Holyoke Producers' 

 Dairy Company have practically elimin- 

 ated the word surplus from their vocab- 

 ularies. The scheme is simple. For ex- 

 ample, a man producing 100 quarts of 

 milk a day takes out 100 shares of com- 

 mon stock. This establishes his rating. 

 He is allowed to vary 90 to 110 quarts 



without penalty. If he gets below 90 

 quarts a day he is warned. If within a 

 reasonable time he is not up to his rating, 

 the company takes back some of his stock 

 and gives him a new- rating. The amount 

 of milk produced above 110 quarts is paid 

 for at butter fat rates. As a result of 

 this policy, there are only 4 of the 70 men 

 outside of their ratings at the present 

 time and these men are below. 



Invest $70,000 in Three Years 



When the farmers took over what is 

 now the Holyoke Producers' Dairy Com- 

 pany it was necessary to pay cash for the 

 business. To finance the proposition, 

 $10,400 worth of preferred stock was sold 

 to interested parties in and around Hol- 

 yoke. This stock pays 7 per cent inter- 

 est. The remainder of the funds were 

 raised by selling common stock to pro- 

 ducers at $8.00 per share. One dollar 

 per shai-e had to be paid in casli and notes 

 signed for the balance. A syndicate of 

 local bankers was formed to underwrite 

 the farmers' notes. Ten per cent of each 



state. They have a market for a con- 

 stant supply of milk and receive their 

 milk checks regularly twice a month. 

 What more should cooperative efforts ob- 

 tain? 



POTATO BLIGHT CONTROL 



Thorough Spraying Necessary 



Last year the men who sprayed their 

 potatoes did not get materially better 

 crops than their neighbors who did not 

 spray. Two years ago, it was a different 

 story. Those who did not spray were 

 lucky if they got money enough from 

 their crop to pay for seed and fertilizer. 

 Last year the average production was 

 175 bushels per acre, the year before it 

 was 7.5. The extra hundred bushels pay 

 labor and profit. Even in blight years 

 this extra hundred bushels can be had if 

 the crop is thoroughly sprayed. 



Materials 



Some day there may be a more efficient 



milk check was deducted to pay interest spray material developed for blight con- 



and to reduce the principal of these notes. 

 Thirty thousand dollars was borrowed 

 from the syndicate. 



trol than Bordeaux Mixture. Today it 

 is not only the cheapest but also the best. 

 The simplest way of preparing it is to- 



At the end of three years there is only use the stock solution method. Two stock 

 about $2,000 left to be paid. In other solutions are mixed up: (1) copper sul- 

 words, in three years the farmers have . fate, using 1 pound to a gallon of water, 

 bought and paid for a milk business Suspend the copper sulfate in a sack at 

 worth $70,000. This was done without the top of the water ; (2) lime at the rate 

 particular hardship to the members as a ! of 1 pound to a gallon of water. These 

 large portion of the payments came from ! stock solutions, if protected from evap- 

 what was before a waste— the surplus oration, will last indefinitely. In making 

 milk left on the farm by the dealers. Boideaux Mixture, never pour the stock 



Monopoly Not Needed 



This plant illustrates the economic fact 

 that monopoly control is not necessary for 

 satisfactory marketing. The manage- 

 ment of a cooperative plant must not only 

 be honest but must al.so be eflicient. The 

 farmer members of this plant are not tied 



solution togethei-, as they form a heavy 

 precipitate which does not go through the 

 sprayer readily and does not stick well. 

 The simplest method of mixing is as fol- 

 lows: 



Pour the copper sulfate stock solution 

 into the spray tank and fill two thirds full 

 of water. Then add the lime stock solu- 



up by contract but they are financially tion and fill the tank with water. For 



sensitive to the plant's success. It is 

 their duty to furni.sh not only a constant 

 supply of milk but of the best quality. 



In the milk business the distribution 

 often never sees the ultimate consumer. 

 The con.sumer looks just for quality ! 



"bugs" add 2i pounds of dry arsenate of 

 lead or 5 pounds of paste to 50 gallons of 

 water. Don't wait till the slugs have 

 eaten the vines badly before putting on 

 the poison. At the present time there 

 are several prepared Bordeaux Mixtures 



and service. He rightly expects every ' on the market. To be effective, these 

 quart of milk to be clean, sweet and should have a high copper content, 15 per 

 up to standard in butter fat. Most cent or more. In recent years the copper 

 consumers want their milk on the door- content of these prepared spraying ma- 

 terials has been greatly increased and, 

 as the copper is the active agent in blight 

 control, the efficiency of the.se sprays has 

 been greatly increased. 



The same is true of copper lime dusts. 



step before time for breakfast. If the 

 cooperative cannot supply this service, 

 someone else will. 



Then the consumer expects to get his 

 milk at a fair price. The Holyoke Pro- 

 ducers' Dairy Company has .seen that the 

 consumers have had these necessary 

 things. While they do not handle over 

 25 per cent of the milk sold in Holyoke, 

 they have been able to meet competition 

 and prices. As a result, the farmers 

 have received at their farms, as large a 

 price as any group of farmers in the 



Equipment 



Years ago when the potato beetles were 

 a serious menace, spraying machines were 

 made to control these insects by using 

 arsenate of lead. As "bug killers" they 

 were and are efficient. These machines 



Continued on page 8. column 1 



