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THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Published Monthly By The 



Hampsliire County Farm Bureau 

 A. P. MacDOUGALL, County Agent 



Office, First National Bank Bldg. 

 Northampton, Mass. 



OFFICERS OF THE FARM BUREAU 



Charles R. Damon, President, 



Williamsburg. 

 W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, 



Northampton 

 John J. Kennedy, Secretary,. 



Northampton 



Advisory Board 



C. E. Hodgkins, Chairman, 



Northampton 



M. A. Morse, Belohertown. 

 Martin Norris, Southampton. 

 Perley E. Davis, Granby. 

 E. B. Clapp, Easthampton. 

 Warren M. King, Northampton. 

 Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg. 



EDITORIAL 



forget these many tilings that are be- 

 ing done for the growers' benefit. 

 But the past year's crop of tobacco 

 proves, without question, that we 

 need some field experiments carried 

 on by a man who thoroughly under- 

 stands the tobacco industry, directed 

 by scientific men. Possibly a sub- 

 station in the valley for experiment- 

 ing with tobacco and onions, man- 

 aged similar to the one the cranberry 

 growers have on the Cape, would be 

 feasible. 



If the" growers will cooperate and 

 either through legislation or some 

 other means, raise the funds necessa- 

 ry, much benefit would be derived. 



ANNOUNCEMENT. 



This is the first issue of the 

 monthly paper that is to be published 

 by the Farm Bureau for the benefit 

 of its members. One-half of the 

 membership fee goes toward a year's 

 subscription of the paper. If you 

 are not at present a member and 

 wish to have the paper continued, 

 please send one dollar to the Farm 

 Bureau which entitles you to its 

 membership and the paper for a year. 



TOBACCO AND ONION GROWERS. 



At a recent field meeting of the 

 tobacco and onion growers the ex- 

 pression seemed to be that they were 

 not satisfield with the amount of 

 help they were receiving from the 

 State Experiment Station. 



At the present time the growers 

 pre receiving an enormous amount of 

 benefit in having their cotton seed, 

 chemicals and mixed goods tested so 

 that they can depend on the guar- 

 anteed analysis. Also a good many 

 samples of soil are tested, advice giv- 

 en in regard to fertilizers, plant dis- 

 eases, etc., and much valuable work 

 has been done on the disease known 

 as "calico" of tobacco. Let us not 



THE FAIR CIRCUIT. 



September and October is the 

 season of Fairs. Nearly every town 

 has an agricultural fair of some sort, 

 either a grange fair, school exhibit, 

 cattle show, or a big hustling fair 

 where everything along agricultural 

 lines are exhibited. 



W;:at do we all lattend the fairs 

 for; Is it for the amusement or the 

 educational part, or both? Let us 

 hope it is both. Make it a day for a 

 good time and be sure when we come 

 home that we have gained a few 

 ideas that will help us in our farm 

 work the coming season. 



Many attractive prizes are being 

 awarded to the boys and girls for 

 exhibits of livestock and vegetables. 

 Encourage them to show at the fairs 

 the results of their summer's labor. 

 The prizes they will receive will en- 

 courage them to take increased inter- 

 est in agriculture and cause them to 

 be more content to stay on the farm. 



THE COW TESTING ASSOCIATION. 



The Connecticut Valley Cow Test- 

 ing Association has been revived 

 after an enforced rest due to the 

 quarantine. The only thing to be 

 regretted is that more of the dairy- 

 men in the county do not avail them- 

 selves 01 this opportunity to put their 

 herd on a business basis. The fol- 

 lowing are some of the benefits mem- 

 bers derive from a testing associa- 

 tion. 



1. Exactness replaces rule of guess 



2. Better feeding methods prevail. 



3. The star-boarder is eliminated. 



4. Better bulls are purchased. 



5. Buyers are attracted by good 

 stock. 



6. Records sell all good stock at 

 high price. 



7. Greater interest is taken in the 

 herd. 



8. Farmers begin to think and live 



We hear so much at the present 

 day about milk being producted at 

 a loss that many farmers are wonder- 

 ing if after all they are making their 

 money on t^heir investment, their 

 crops, or their cows. 



A summary from Bulletin 357, 

 published by Cornell University on 

 The Cost of Milk Production is in- 

 teresting. 



"The conclusions are based on a 

 study of the individual cow, and 

 the milk, butter-fat, feed, cash re- 

 ci'ipts, labor, investment records, and 

 other data, per cow, for S34 dairy 

 •^ows witli full year's records in fifty- 

 three dairy herds in Jefferson Coun- 

 ty. The results obtained from the 

 study are true and correct under the 

 conditions indicated in the text. The 

 i-onclusions may or may not be ap- 

 plicable elsewhere. 



1. "Seven of the fifty-three herds 

 were kept at a loss of $1335.71. 



2. "On the basis of net cost and 

 Kctual receipts, 161 cows, or 19 per 

 cent of the total number, caused a 

 loss to their owners of $1799.87, or 

 $11.18 per cow. 



3. "The average production was 

 fi621 pounds of milk and 241 pounds 



of butter-fat. 



4. "The milk was produced at a 

 net cost of $1.21 per hundred pounds, 

 and the butter-fat at 33.3 cents per 

 pound. 



5. "The average sellling price of 

 the milk was $1.52 per hundred 

 pounds, _the average profit was 31 

 cents per hundred pounds, and the 

 net profit per cow was $20.39. 



6. "The average cost of feed per 

 cow was $51.5.7 or 64 per cent of the 

 average net cost of keep. 



7. "The net cost per " cow was 

 $80.24 and the receipts were $100.63 



S. "The labor cost of caring for 

 each cow was $23.12. 



9. "The average cost of deliver- 

 ing 100 pounds of milk 2.14 miles 

 was 11.7 cents. 



10. "The profit from cows- yield- 

 ing 10,00 pounds of milk a year was 

 51 cenis greater than from those 

 yielding 6000 pounds." 



These are facts that we should 

 know in regard to the cows in Hamp- 

 shire County. All the data in this 

 summary was taken from reports of 

 cow-testing associations in a New 

 York County^ We have room for 

 three or four associations in our 

 county. It is hoped that during the 

 following year at least one more as- 

 soci; tion will be started. Let us 

 have more cooperative effort among 

 the dairymen. 



