THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BNREAU MONTHLY 



FARM BUREAU WORK 



Sununai-y of the Work 



(July 26 to August 21) 



Farms Visited 78 



Letters Written 74 



Office Calls 43 



Telephone Calls 56 



MEETINGS 



Evening Jleetings 4 



Field Meetings 1 



Total Attendance 480 



MILES TRAVELED 

 Auto 995 



Train 390 



Total 



1385 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' EXHIBIT AT 



THE COUNTY FAIR 



This year for the first time the 

 Three County Pair at Northampton 

 will have a separate Department for 

 the youths and children. Two large 

 tents will be furnished for the ex. 

 hibits of vegetables, flowers, cook- 

 ing, sewing, etc., and a smaller tent 

 to provide for the poultry exhibit. 



Four silver cups are to be offer- 

 ed to the schools making the best 

 displays. The schools will be divid- 

 ed into two classes; the high schools, 

 academy, and Smith Agricultural 

 School comprising one class; and the 

 grammer, lower grades and district 

 schools, comprising the other — first 

 and second prizes being given. Sure- 

 ly these prizes are well worth work- 

 ing for and it is hoped that many 

 schools will enter an exhibit. 



A large list of prizes are also of- 

 fered for individual exhibits. This 

 is open to all boys and girls under 

 eighteen years of age. AH articles 

 presented must be the exclusive 

 work of exhibitors. A boy or girl 

 may enter his exhibit with his or 

 her school exhibit and also enter it 

 C::for individual prizes. There is a 

 iAhance for every one. Prizes are 

 • -given on Live-stock, Poultry, Vege- 



tables, Flowers, Preserves, Cooking. 

 Sewing, Manual Training, Drawing, 

 Painting, etc. 



Last year the hall was filled to 

 overflowing, and this year with the 

 extra special prizes and better ac- 

 commodations, more entries are 

 looked for. The parents should be 

 interested in this work, and see to it. 

 If the children have something in 

 the garden, house or barn which they 

 have done especially well with, have 

 it taken to the fair. Encourage- 

 ment of this kind does a whole lot 

 toward keeping the youngsters In- 

 terested in something worth_while 

 and is bound sooner or later to bring 

 returns. 



The committee in charge of this 

 work are A. F. MacDougall, North- 

 ampton; John Hart, Northampton; 

 Mr. Goodhue, Supt. Schools, Hayden- 

 ville; E. J. Burke, Hadley; Raymond 

 Clapp, Curtis Peckham, Smith Agri- 

 cultural School. Entry blanks may 

 be obtained from any of these men. 



HINTS ON POTATO SEED SELEC- 

 TION 



(1) Good seed is a determining 

 factor in the production of maximum 

 crops of potatoes. 



(2) Good seed may be obtained 

 by the tuber-unit and hill selection 

 methods of selection through the eli- 

 mination of unproductive and weak 

 plants. These methods- are explain- 

 ed in Farmers' Bulletin 533, "Good 

 Seed Potatoes and How to Produce 

 Them." 



(3) Like produces like. If tub- 

 ers from unproductive or weak 

 plants are used, a similar harvest 

 will be reaped. 



(4) All tubers showing marked 

 discoloration of the flesh should be 

 rejected. 



(5) Purity of seed stock is an 

 essential quality of good seed. Se- 

 rious losses are sustained by the 

 grower through mixtures. 



ESTIMATE CROP CONDITIONS 

 Aug-. 1, 1915. 



( From Monthly Crop Report, XJ. S. 

 D. A.) 



APPLES 



Maine 



New Hampshire 



Vermont 



Massachusetts 



Rhode Island 



Connecticut 



New York 



Pennsylvania 



Ohio 



Indiana 



Illinois 



Michigan 



Missouri (ft 



Washington 



Oregon 



HIGH-TESTING CREAM 



The average fat content of cream 

 delivered to many creameries is ap- 

 proximately 25 per cent. This means 

 that, in some instances, the test is 

 above and in others below this aver- 

 age. It is evident that many cream- 

 ery managers, as well as many farm- 

 ers, do not understand the loss in_ 

 volved in handling thin cream. 



Cream testing 30 to 35 per cent is 

 the most satisfactory to the fanner 

 and to the creamery man. A com- 

 parison of low testing with high- 

 testing cream reveals, for the high- 

 testing cream these advantages. 



(a) To the creamery man — 



(l)Less bulk to handle, hence less 

 labor, fewer churnings, smaller 

 equipment and building. 



(2) Les buttermilk, hence less loss 

 of fat in buttermilk. 



