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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 





FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Vol. IX. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1924 



No. 11 



HAY THE SHEET ANCHOR AGRICULTURAL CENSUS 

 OF MASSACHUSETTS 

 AGRICULTURE 



SOON TO BE TAKEN 



Despite the fact that for several gene- 

 ration.s in the early days of its settlement 

 New England was more than self-sup- 

 porting in the production of food crops 

 for its human population, its farming is, 

 perhaps, now the most out of balance of 

 that of any section of the country. Seven- 

 ty per cent of the arable land is in grass, 

 ten per cent in corn and .small grains, 

 ten per cent in fruit, and ten per cent 

 in vegetables. Why should Massachusetts 

 •devote .so much land to hay growing and 

 so little to crops that can be directly used 

 for food of man? Massachusetts is not 

 particularly well adapted to hay produc- 

 tion. The yield per acre is small, and on 

 account of frequent summer rains there 

 is usually much difficulty in properly 

 curing it. Why, with a yield of only a 

 ton and a third per acre, woi-th at the 

 farm during the past five years only an 

 average of thirty-four dollars, should hay 

 be the major crop and in fact the only 

 crop occupying much land? Is this due 

 to inertia and short-sightedness on the 

 part of the farmers or are there funda- 

 mental reasons for this unfortunate un- 

 balanced condition? 



Corn and Small Grains 



Massachusetts formerly grew moi'e 

 'Oats, barley and rye than she now does. 

 At one time she grew a limited amount of 

 winter wheat. Economic competition with 

 the West together with a difficulty con- 

 trolled disease of winter wheat led to 

 its abandonment as a crop. Rye produc- 

 tion has become less and less. With the 

 substitution of the motor truck for horse 

 drawn vehicles the city demand for the 

 straw for bedding has dropped to al- 

 most the vanishing point. Oats are still 

 grown but largely as a shade crop for 

 spring seeding with grasses. In many of 

 the counties yields are small and the oats 

 are light in weight with high percentages 

 of indigestible fiber. Small, stone fenced, 

 •often rocky fields prevent the use of mo- 

 tor drawn machinery. Cost of production 

 even with the freight preferential makes 

 it difficult to compete with western grown 

 grain. 



Continued on page 8, column 1 



By December 1, the United States De- 

 partment of Commerce will have di.stri- 

 buted by rural free delivery between five 

 and six million questionnaires from which 

 the 192.5 farm schedule of the census is 

 to be taken. On December 1, the census 

 takers will begin their field work. 



This questionnaire lists 158 queries 

 suitably arranged in groups. It defines 

 a "Fai'm" and explains on the last page 

 that information reported in it is "strictly 

 confidential" and that it will not be com- 

 municated to any assessor of taxes. It 

 will be remembered that the 1919 census 

 was taken on inflated values and its re- 

 turns cannot be applied in all instances 

 without being weighted. The returns 

 from this new .schedule are, for. that rea- 

 son, of uncommon significance. 



The Census bureau has requested the 

 agricultural colleges and state depart- 

 ments of agriculture to assist with this 

 census. While no instructions have been 

 received it has been presumed that such 

 assistance will be largely in advertising 

 the survey's purposes and value. 



It has been hoped that the census in 

 New England will be tabulated by towns 

 rather than by counties. From town 

 figures one may readily compute an 

 area's possible contribution to its local 

 market and its shipments elsewhere. 

 County totals do not afford this opportu- 

 nity. New Hampshire concluded that 

 county lines were not economic factors 

 and were therefore useless as totals. Its 

 farm schedule of 1919 was computed on 

 a town basis and the advantages from it 

 have impressed the other New England 

 states. The additional expen.se of tabu- 

 lating by towns would have to be borne 

 by the states. 



WAGE WAR ON RATS 



11alf=hearted Measures Are Not Effective 



Practically every farm in this county 

 has a rat problem. As Mark Twain re- 

 marked about the weather, — we talk a lot 

 about it but take no action. Unlike the 

 weather, rats can be controlled if one goes 

 at it in a thorough manner. Too often 

 half hearted measures such as scattering 

 Continued on page 7, column 1 



THE GOOD OLD DAYS 



Do We Want Them Back? 



The conditions tending for prosperity 

 in any industry of a country cannot for 

 long be out of adjustment with those of 

 other industries without receiving some 

 corrective measures, administered either 

 by those concerned or by that slow but 

 sure team Supply and Demand. The 

 present depression in agriculture has 

 been for some time the uppermost thought 

 in the minds of farmers and a subject 

 treated by many writers in varying de- 

 grees of alarm. A few paragraphs writ- 

 ten just previous to the World War by 

 a close student of economic conditions 

 affecting agriculture. Prof. G. F. Warren, 

 lead one to believe, in the light of past 

 history, that we are going through a 

 natural course of events and will in a 

 few years again see prosperity for the 

 farmer. This of course will not help the 

 price of potatoes, apples or milk this 

 season, neither can it possibly be a source 

 of consolation to him who is trying to 

 lift a mortgage. For the farmer of to- 

 day there is the absolute need as never be- 

 fore of following business-like methods in 

 his farm operations. 



Prof. Warren stated : "There are some 

 fundamental principles of the adjustment 

 of population between city and country 

 that need to be considered by all persons 

 interested in the question. 



Chinese Methods Check Progress 



"It has been e.stimated that about 75 

 per cent of the Chinese are farmers. 

 Each man tills, with antiquated methods 

 about two acres. The large number 

 needed to produce food has held in check 

 practically all progress in industry in 

 China. Progress is not known in that 

 country. 



"In the days of our forefathers the en- 

 tire family worked on the farm. Little 

 time was spent in going to school, in read- 

 ing or in travel, yet the few farm tools 

 were so crude and the farming so poorly 

 done that a family raised little more than 

 it consumed. Work as hard as they did, 

 the family was often threatened with 

 famine and nearly all persons had to be 

 farmers to live. So long as this condi- 

 tion continued, a high state of civilization 

 was slow in developing." 



Continued on page 9, column 1 



