HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



I*o(»to might Control , 



Continued from paRn 2. column 3 

 never were very good as far as blight 

 control was concerned. They do not carry 

 pressure enough to put on an all-envelop- 

 ing fine spray. Their efficiency can be 

 increased, however, by using a calcium 

 caseinate spreader such as Kayso at the 

 rate of 1 pound to -50 gallons of water. 

 This material makes the drops of spray 

 spread out in a thin film over the surface 

 of the leaf. The same results can be ob- 

 tained with 2 gallons of skim milk added 

 to .50 gallons of spray. 



Today there are spiaying machines on 

 the market that will develop 200 or more 

 pounds pressure while spraying 4 rows 

 and using 3 nozzles to the row. As these 

 machines cost $250 and up, they are not 

 for the small grower. In Granby, Earl 

 Ingham and Henry Baker got togethei' 

 and bought such a machine. The Pelis- 

 sier Brothers in Hadley have a similar 

 machine. Another is owned by Felix 

 Charon of South Hadley. 



Dusters Efficient 



For the man who has less than two 

 acres of potatoes, we believe that the 

 hand duster offers the best solution of the 

 problem if there is no way of cooperating 

 with neighbors to get a big machine. In 

 1922, six men in the county controlled 

 blight so that the dusted part of the field 

 averaged 57 bushels of potatoes more per 

 acre than the undusted portion. It takes 

 about 15 hours of hard labor and 150-200 

 pounds of dust per acre for the year. 

 Since 1922 there have been many changes 

 made in the hand dusters which make 

 them far better machines. 



The one way to control blight is to keep 

 the vines covered with spray material or 

 dust from the time the plants are 6 inches 

 high till the tubers are harvested. Spray- 

 ing is the same as having screens on the 

 house. Screens only keep flies out as 

 long as they are on. Remove them for 

 one day and the house will be full of 

 "flies. Spraying is effective only so long 

 as the plants are entirely covered." The 

 number of sprayings or dustings needed 

 depends upon the way the plants are 

 growing and upon weather conditions. 

 When the plants are growmg rapidly and 

 when it is rainy weather, spraying may 

 have to be a weekly job. Ordinarily 

 from 5 to 7 .sprayings will give commer- 

 cial conti-ol. 



Optiinisti)' AliiMil .\. i:. *>£■"■<•"'""•<' 



Cojii'Mucd frum i);it;'" '■>> column I! 

 New School for Social Research in New 

 York City, charged the graduating class 

 of the Two-year students yesterday to 

 follow the scientific instructions of such 

 colleges as M. A. C, leave prices to fix 

 themselves, to concern them.selves with 

 reducing production costs and to develop 

 an American culture that will prove that 

 our democracy is economic as well as 

 political. 



He argued to his optimistic faith in the 

 agricultural development from these 

 facts. '• 



In the last 25 years the total popula- 

 tion increased by 40,000,000; the farm 

 population little if any. The production 

 of this stationary farm population in- 

 creased 40 per cent, keeping pace with ! 

 the total population. Farm products are 

 now worth four times as much as in 1897, 

 despite their drop from 24 billion to 16 

 billion dollars from 1917 to 192.S. 



The following phenomenon is peculiar 

 to American agricultural history; from 

 the settling of Virginia by the colonists 

 the value of farm lands rose to 13 billion 

 by 1900. In 1910 it was 28 billion, in 

 1920 it reached 54 billion and now it is 

 at 10 billion dollars. 



The agricultural population, he be- 

 lieves, will be relatively stationary, 

 though the total population in this coun- 

 try by 1940 will be 130,000,000. The re- 

 sult of this growth will be to keep more 

 of America's food off the international 

 food market. That tendency is shown in 

 the last three 20-year periods when we 

 have been decreasingly contributive to in- 

 ternational trade. This gi-owth in popu- 

 lation will be accompanied by an in- 

 creased farm efficiency, commensurate 

 with the increased efficiency notable in 

 the past 25 years — 15 per cent per person 

 in manufacturing production and 35 per 

 cent in farm production. Machinery and 

 the application of science as this college 

 teaches have made this increase possible. 



The room for such improvement is por- 

 trayed by such figures as these; one third 

 of the country's hens lay no eggs; of the 

 800,000 milch cows in Michigan whole i 

 herds average 10,000 pounds of milk a i 

 year but many more average 2500 ; Mass- 

 achusetts had 2,000,000 acres of farm j 

 lan^s in 1900 and now she has less than 

 1,000,000. 



One result of this change has been an 

 increase in the price of farm products. 

 I can I'emember the prices paid me for 

 corn and hogs when I farmed it, he stated. 

 Prices are now four times as high as they 

 were then. 



He strongly and decidedly urged; let 

 prices fix themselves, they will, but raise 

 them if you can. Prices of farm pro- 

 ducts will not increase, he thinks ; they 

 are more apt to fall. But prices of other 

 commodities will fall farther. By de- 

 creasing his production costs, the farmer 

 will then take a larger portion of profit. 

 Pnces are now set in favor of the young 

 farmer who avails himself of the informa- 

 tion of agricultural colleges and experi- 

 ment stations, and the farmer in In- 

 dustrial states like Massachusetts has the 

 advantage over the Kansas and Iowa 

 raiser. Some 66 billion dollars in income 

 is spent throughout the country; three 

 billion will be spent by Massachusetts. 

 The amount of this income per farmer 



Clothing that combines comfort with 

 dignity. 



That's what we try to sell. Not 

 how cheap, but at a price as low as 

 good fabrics and good tailoring will 

 permit. 



Prices ^30 to ^55 



MEKRITT CLARK & CO. 



Corona is the standard Portable 

 Typewriter. 

 R Take it with you. Set it anywhere. 

 Will do anything a big machine can 



i ''°- 



^ $50.00 cash or small monthly pay- 

 ^ ments. 



I NORTHAMPTON 



I COMMERCIAL COLLEGE, Inc. | 



I 76 Pleasant Street 



m Northampton, Mass. 



P 



£xi6e 



BATTERIES 



Demand a battery that gives 

 you lasting satisfaction — 

 plenty of power and care- 

 free service. Then see that 

 you get an Exide. 



The G. P. Trowbridge Co. 



129 King St. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



Phone: 480 



