THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Published By The 



Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



A. F. MacDougall, County Agent 



Office, First National Bank Bldg. 



Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Not. 9, 1915 at the post office at 

 Northampton, Massachusetts, under 

 the Act of March 8, 1879. 



OFFICERS OF THE FARM BUREAU 

 Charles R. Damon, President, 



Williamsburg. 

 W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, 



Northampton. 

 John J. Knenedy, Secretary, 



Northampton. 



Advisory Board 



C. E. Hodgklns, Chairman, 



Northampton. 

 M. A. Morse, Belchertown. 

 Martin Norris, Southampt n. 

 Parley E. Davis, Granby. 

 E. B. Clapp, Easthampton. 

 Warren M. King, Northampton. 

 Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg. 



EDITORIAL 



NEXT SPRING'S PROBLEMS 



The new year has arrived and the 

 time for making our plans for another 

 season Is here. Decide what fields 

 come into your rotation, the crops 

 you must grow, the acreage, and 

 above all how you are going to fer- 

 tilize them. 



If your land needs lime, the easi- 

 est way to draw it is on a sled and 

 your order should soon be placed. The 

 only economical way to buy lime is 

 by the carload. This means coopera- 

 tion with your neighbors. Twenty 

 tons is the minimum, and the price 

 delivered per ton of ground lime- 

 stone Is from J3.35 to $4.00, depend- 

 ing on the freight rate. 



The fertilizer market is very unset- 

 tled and every indication seems to 

 point to a higher price In the spring. 

 Now is the time to put in your fer- 

 tilizer order. 



Approximately the present prices 

 for chemicals and other fertilizer ma- 

 terials are as follows. These are sub- 

 ject to market changes: 

 Nitrate of Soda ?C9.58 



Acid Phosphat, 16 % P. 20 00 



Tankage, 7% Am., 15% P. 36!50 



Bone, 3% Am., 50% B. P. L. 37.50 

 Blood, 16 % Am 68.50 



The Farm Bureau would be glad to 

 assist any community in organising 

 for the purchasing of lime or fertili- 



zer material. To get any advantaiiie 

 on the fertilizer market re-iuires im- 

 mediate action and early orlers. 



NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW 



Next fall we have the National 

 Dairy Show coming to Massachusetts 

 Very few farmers in the County have 

 had the opportunity of seeing this 

 show, as it has always been in the 

 west, but now we have it coming to 

 our door. It should mean one of the 

 greatest stimuli to the dairy indus- 

 try we have ever experienced. A show 

 of this type gives us the opportuni- 

 ty to see the best cattle in America 

 and the types that our best breeders 

 are striving for. It makes us feel to 

 a greater extent, the importance of 

 the dairy industry and what we must 

 all strive for, before we are, even m 

 a small way. on the road to perfec- 

 tion. 



ANNUAL MEETING 

 The annual meeting of the Farm 

 Bureau will take place in Northamp- 

 ton at the Board of Trade rooms on 

 Friday, January 14th. Everyone 

 is invited and it is desired that each 

 town send a good sized delegation. 

 In the morning the election of of- 

 ficers and directors will take place 

 and plans for the coming year dis- 

 cussed. In the afternoon talks will 

 be given by men from the Mass. Ag- 

 ricultural College and by men from 

 other Farm Bureaus. Several farm- 

 ers in the County will also give short 

 talks on what the Farm Bureau has 

 been doing in their community and 

 give suggestions for the work this 

 coming season. 



Come and get better acquainted 

 with men from every section of the 

 County, have a good time, and give 

 your ideas on how best we can carry 

 on this work. 



MEASURES OF FARM EFFICIENCY 

 There are certain features o« 

 which the success of a farm businese 

 usually depends. From these it is 

 usually possible to determine not 

 ! only the good points in a system of 

 I farming but also its deficiencies. Th« 

 j latter being known, the method of 

 improving the system riecomes evi- 

 dent. 



On a great majority of farms, su«- 

 cess is primarily dependent on three 

 important factors^ These are (1) 

 the size of the farm business; (2) 

 the yields of the crops and the re- 

 turns per animal, representing the 

 quality of the farm business; and 

 (3.) the diversity of the business. 

 Of course many other things hay* 

 their influence, but the farmer whose 

 business is efficient in these three 

 respects is generally successful. 

 Those farms that are excellent im 

 none of these respects almost uni- 

 versally fail. Those deficient in one 

 or two may succeed, but their chances 

 of success are greatly lessened. — D. 

 S. D. A. 



The Pig Club Contest in which 

 over 300 of the boys and girls in the 

 State joined has been brought to a 

 close and the prizes announced. A 

 great deal of interest was shown in. 

 this contest by the adults as well as 

 the children. 



The following boys and girls in 

 Hampshire County won prizes: 



New England Trip — Edward Fy- 

 denkevez, Hadley. 



Week at Boy's & Girls' Camp, Am- 

 herst-^Myron Gale, Amherst, Mary 

 Devine, No. Hadley, Dean Eldridge, 

 Amherst, Robert Wells, Cummington. 



The Youths' Companion — Fred 

 Challet, Northampton, John Calla- 

 han, Hadley, Phillip Damon, Chester- 

 field, John Devine, Hadley, Talbot 

 Eldridge, Amherst, Wallace Dostal, 

 Northampton. 



Forest culture is as much of an 

 art as is corn culture. A good wood- 

 lot, like a good cornfield, is the re- 

 sult of applying intelligent methods 

 to produce a full, valuable crop. A 

 cornfield with fail spots, empty hills, 

 feeble stalks, and half-filled ears te 

 neither a credit to the farm nor a 

 paying investment for the farmer. 

 No more is a woodlot half stocked 

 with inferior trees. When timber is 

 cut is the time of all times to apply 

 forestry. The way in which the cut- 

 ting is done will determine what 

 the subsequent condition of the 

 woodlot will be. — Yearbook. 1914, 

 U S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



DISEASE OF PINES 

 Whjt^-Pine Blister Rust Threateas 

 Serious Damage in Northeast- 

 em and Western States 



The alarming character of the white- 

 pine blister rust and the economle 

 loss which it threatens in the north- 

 eastern and western United Statas 

 are sharply emphasized by four re- 

 cent serious outbreaks on pine trees 

 and currant bushes in Massachusetts 

 and New York, say the department 

 specialists. This disease was intro- 

 duced on imported white-pine nurs- 

 ery stock and first appeared at Ge- 

 neva, N. Y., in 1906. 



In 1909 extensive importations 

 were located and destroyed in New 

 York and other Eastern States, and 

 warnings were issued broadcast 

 against further Importation of white- 



