HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



Haj the Sheet Anchor of IU«ss. ABri<'iil(iiro 



Continued from page 1, cohiniii 1 

 The climate is too cool for corn to be 

 at its best. The growing season is too 

 short for all except the early varieties. 

 The reluctance with which it.s growth is 

 being given up and its greater extension 

 in the Atlantic States further south sug- 

 gest that were the climatic conditions 

 more favorable corn would become promi- 

 nent. But even were corn to be made 

 a major crop it is chiefly a food for the 

 lower animals and only slightly used by 

 man as a cereal or bread stuft'. 



Fruits and Vegetables 



Other than for vegetables in New Jer- 

 sey, which is located between the two 

 largest American cities, and for fruit in 

 California, where climatic conditions are 

 so favorable, Massachusetts in common j 

 with the other .southern New England I 

 States leads all other sections of the 

 country in the percentage of area devoted 

 to fruit and vegetables. But even so the 

 acreage of fruit and vegetables in Mass- 

 achusetts in proportion to the population 

 is less than in some other states. There 

 is a legitimate opportunity for Massachu- 

 setts to increase the production of fruits 

 and vegetables beyond the pi-esent areas 

 thus used. But crops of this class oc- 

 cupy less than four per cent of the im- 

 proved land of the country. This makes 

 fruits and vegetables as a whole, and in- 

 dividual kinds in particular, small area 

 crops. And all small area crops are 

 highly speculative in their nature. It 

 takes only a small over-production to 

 over-saturate a market and to create a 

 surplus that makes the production at a 

 loss instead of at a profit. Individual 

 men will doubtless make small additions 

 to their fruit and vegetable production 

 but the percentage increase of improved 

 land devoted to these crops must neces- 

 sarily be small. 



Hay 



Climatic conditions eliminate such 

 cash crops as cotton. Small rocky fields 

 make competition with western grown 

 grains doubtful. The limited demand for 

 vegetables and fruit prevent much in- 

 crease in acreage. And this thiows back 

 to and explains the very large percentage 

 of the acreage devoted to hay production. 

 The nearby cities with their large popu- 

 lations tend to make milk production 

 worth while. Milk production requires 

 hay and roughages. This means a farm 

 use for hay. The cities still require 

 quite a lot of hay. Hay is I'elatively low 

 priced and bulky. Transportation adds 

 greatly to its selling price. Thus Mass- 

 achusetts growers of hay have a two-fold 

 advantage in hay production. 



The products of the dairy, which have 

 gone through the cheese and butter stages 

 and have arrived at a more or less of a 

 monopoly of the fresh milk trade of the 



large cities provide a farm u.se of the hay 

 and other roughages. The demand of the 

 cities for a considerable quantity of hay 

 provides a more or less profitable market 

 for any surplus hay production. Because 

 of this combination of physical and eco- 

 nomical causes hay has become and is 

 likely to remain for a long time the major 

 crop in acreage and in money value. 



Mass. Dept. of Agriculture 



POULTRY ACCOUNT 



SUMMARY 



Ihree County Flocks Among Best in 

 State for September 



The September poultry records show 

 that the three county leaders hold third, 

 fourth and fifth places respectively for 

 highest egg production in the state. The 

 following are the flocks having the 

 highest egg production per bird in the 

 county for September: — 



1. H. C. Booth, Belchertown 



2. N. S. Chaffee, Pelham 



3. F. D. Steele, Cummington 



4. N. K. Lincoln, Williamsburg 

 .5. Hillside School, Greenwich 

 The state and county summary is as 



follows: 



County State 

 Farms reporting 20 47 



No. of birds 4439 11602 



Average birds per farm 222 247 



Eggs per bird 6.3 8.2 



Egg receipts per bird 34f 40f 



Grain Costs per bird 24C 2 If' i 



No. farms selling poultry 16 39 



Poultry sold per farm $9.5.07 $84.81 



These figures show that the flocks in 

 this county are nearly as large as the 

 state average, yet our average egg pro- 

 duction per bird is lower. This simply 

 means that our poultrymen are not cull- 

 ing as closely as they should. The New 

 Jersey standard for birds laying 160 eggs 

 in the year calls for 7 eggs per bird in 

 September. Since the county average is 

 only 6.3 eggs per bird, our flocks on the 

 average are not reaching the 160 egg 

 maik. The records of the five county 

 leaders show that high egg production 

 can be secured from birds at this time of 

 year. We know that three of these flocks 

 have been culled carefully. 



Lest We Forget 



There are a lot of men who will keep 

 over too many poor hens. We firmly be- 

 lieve that the only excuse one has to keep 

 birds over their second year is for breed- 

 ing purposes. The following table from 

 New Jersey should bo cut out and pasted 

 in your poultry account book. It gives a 

 standard of goal for each month's pro- 

 duction in the first column. The second 

 column shows how near the average 

 poultryman came to this standard with 



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 



MERRITT CLARK & CO. 



VOU'lll \MI"rO.\, MASS. 



Corona is the standard Portable 

 Typewriter. 

 I Take it with you. Set it anywhere. 

 Will do anything a big machine can 

 do. 



$.50.00 cash or small monthly pay- 

 ments. 



I NORTHAMPTON 



I COMMERCIAL COLLEGE, Inc. 



i 76 Pleasant Street 



^ Northampton, Mass. 



Demand a battery that gives 

 you lasting satisfaction — 

 plenty of power and care- 

 free service. Then see that 

 you get an E.xide. 



The G. P. Trowbridge Co. 



129 King St. 



.NORTHAMPTON, MASS. 



Phone: 480 



