HAMRSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTMt::^ 



Published by the Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



PRICES 50 CENTS PER YEAR; Sl.OO PER YEAR INCLUDING MEMBERSHIP IN FARM BUREAU 



al 



VoS. 1 



Northampton, Mass., October 1915 



No. 2 



HAEVESTING THE APPLE CROP 



The apples In the county this fall 

 or. the whole are much larger and 

 freer from insects and disease than 

 they were last season. This is due, 

 no doubt, to a more scattered set- 

 ting of fruit, more and better spray- 

 ing, and unlimited moisture. Now 

 that we have the crop, what are we 

 going to do with it? It is at this 

 point where many of the farmers 

 fail, and do not get the prices they 

 deserve. The marketing end of the 

 farm business is not studied and fol- 

 lowed as it should be. Make it a 

 point this fall to pick, grade and 

 pack your fruit so as to get the 

 largest returns. 



Ill harvesting the crop the fol- 

 lowing suggestions may be used to 

 advantage: 



In picking the apples, take pains 

 not to break off the fruit spurs. 

 We need them for next season's crop. 

 Do not put any drops in with the 

 hand-picked fruit. It 'is often a 

 temptation when apples are knocked 

 off by the ladder, or the scatter- 

 ing branches shaken, to pick up ox 

 the ground those that appear free 

 from bruises. This practice spoils 

 many a good barrel. Eliminat the 

 "Fruit Picking Bag." Use only the 

 basket with no rough corners or 

 edges. The oak stave basket with 

 drop handles gives excellent satis- 

 faction. Lining the baskets with 

 burlap is a very good practice and 

 prevents much bruising. Lay the 

 apples in the basket; do not drop or 

 throw them in. In pouring the ap- 

 ples into the barrel, be sure and 

 lower the basket as far as you can 

 and then pour the apples out. 

 Careful handling pays. 



Sort the fruit and get it into 

 storage as soon as possible. Allow- 

 ing the apples to stay in piles in the 

 orchard or to be stacked in a warm 

 shed, spoils their keeping qualities 

 as they soon become over-ripe. 



In sorting the fruit remember 

 that two good apples are worth more 

 than two good apples and a poor 

 one. Sort your good fruit into three 

 grades. 



You will find it much to your ad- 

 vantage to follow the standard laid 

 down by the Massachusetts Standard 

 Apple Grading & Packing Law. For 



the bensflt of those interested In the 

 law, demonstrations will be given at 

 the following placs: Oct. 6 and 7, 

 Northampton Fair; Oct. 9, Harry 

 Wright's, Williamsburg; Oct. 14, 

 I!ay Road Fruit Farm. Amherst. 



If one has to haul his fruit any 

 distance, it should not be hauled on 

 a dead ax wagon. It is a practice 

 that is used by many farmers, but 

 I'uch damage is done the fruit by 

 tills method. On some of our steep 

 I:illsides, if is necessary to use a 

 dead ax wagon, but use a spring 

 wagon wherever possible. 



For packing, a new standard bar 

 rel is much to be preferred over the 

 second-hand flour barrel, sugar bar- 

 rel, etc. It is just about impossible 

 to clean the flour or dirt out of a 

 second-hand barrel and the appear- 

 ance made by a poor one has much 

 to do in keeping the piice of fru!t 

 down. 



Some of the entra fixings as litho- 

 graphs, advertising your farm; cor- 

 rugated caps, lace circles, cushions, 

 etc.. add much to the condition and 

 appearance of the fruit when it is 

 opened on the market. Put up your 

 fruit so that it will appeal to the eye 

 of the public and will keep on ap- 

 pealing as they eat down through 

 the barrel. 



Sometimes the question is asked, 

 "Does it pay to go to all this bother 

 with our fruit?" Without question, 

 "Yes". In the first place it takes 

 very little time for the extra sort- 

 ing and packing. And second, the 

 public is demanding it. Only to- 

 day a letter was received at the 

 Farm Bureau Office wanting to know 

 where 200 barrels of fall apples 

 could be bought and guaranteed to; 

 be dependable in grading and pack- 

 ing. 



This is a season when it will pay 

 to pack your fruit right and then 

 hold for a good price. It is impossible 

 to predict on the future market but 

 from general conditions, it appears 

 that good apples will be worth from 

 75 cents to $2.00 more per barrel 

 than last season. 



At recent auction sales of fruit In 

 New York State, late apples were 

 sold at $3.40 a barrel. Theh fruit 

 must be picked, graded, and packed 

 in accordance with the New York 

 Apple Law and transported to the 



station. This price included both 

 the "A" and "B" grades. In some 

 of the large fruit sections in the 

 western part of Massachusetts $2.75 

 has been offered for "Number One" 

 fruit. 



HARVESTING AND MARKETING 

 THE POTATO CROP 



Many potato fields in this sec- 

 tion have been struck by the late 

 blight and as a result the ci-op is be- 

 ing dug as rapidly as possible and is 

 being pushed upon the market. 

 This has caused the price to drop 

 lower than it has been before at 

 this season of the year since the 

 record of these prices was begun in 

 '908. Samuel Frazer of New York, 

 admittedly a potato authority, ad- 

 vise postponing the digging of the 

 crop until ten days after the potato 

 vines are completely dead where 

 there is the slightest suspicion of 

 blight. This practice will place the 

 number of rotten tubers at the mini- 

 mum. We constantly hear it said 

 that one might as well let the tubers 

 rot in the ground as in the cellar. 

 That may be true, but the statement 

 is misleading. If the crop is dug 

 soon after the late blight has at- 

 tacked the vines, many of the dis- 

 ease spots or germs, which are pres- 

 ent upon the vines and leaves, will 

 become scattered upon the ground 

 and the potatoes will immediately 

 carry some of the spores into the 

 cellar when they are stored. Many 

 a farmer will testify to carrying 

 out to the rubbish heap at least 

 9-10 of the crop a few weeks later. 



When the crop is left in the 

 ground, if well covered with earth, 

 a smaller number of the spores will 

 come in contact with the tubers, to 

 cause tneir decay. Certain hills 

 ■'•.■'nir!! niay contain sunburned tub- 

 er<-- or tubers very close to the sur- 

 fac- Tiay have spores washed down 

 v.hicli V. ill cause the whole hill to 

 become a decaying mass but there 

 may be hills alongside which will 

 escape the pest. After waiting for 

 ten days or two weeks the spores 

 will have largely lost their powes 

 for destruction and the crop, or 

 what is left of a crop, can be harv- 

 (Continued on Page 3) 



