HAMRSHIRE COUNTY 



_Criciil tvara.1 



FARM BUREAU MONTH l_Y 



Published by the Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



PRICES 50 CENTS PER YEAR ; SI. 00 PER YEAR INCLUDING MEMBERSHIP IN FARM BUREAU 



Vol. 1 



Northampton, Mass., September, 1916 



No. 13 



FIELD DAY RESULTS 



Seven field meetings liave been 

 held by the Farm Bureau this sea- 

 son with a total attendance of ap- 

 proximjately 800. Meetings were 

 held in all sections of the county, 

 giving everyone an opportunity to 

 attend. At all the meetings, with 

 the exception of the one for the to- 

 bacco growers, and the one for the 

 poultrymen, special emphasis was 

 laid on dairying. 



The auto trip to the Mixter Farm, 

 Hardwick, probably created the 

 most interest and a great deal of 

 credit is due the Mixter farm and 

 its manager, Mr. J. S. Clark for the 

 success of the meeting. The Mixter 

 Farm herd of Guernseys is com- 

 posed of 178 head of milking stock 

 and about 150 head of young stock. 

 The average test for the nuilk is 5.6 

 to 5.S butterfat and the bacterial 

 count seldom exceeds 5000. The 

 cream sold tests 55 to 60% butter- 

 fat. 



DAIRY RECORDS. 

 At the field day in Williamsburg 

 and in Granby, Mr. George Putnam, 

 President Merrimac County Farm 

 Bureau from Contoocook, N. H., 

 brought out very forcibly the re- 

 sults of keeping dairy records and 

 the use of well bred sires in improv- 

 ing a dairy herd. Mr. Putnam gave 

 the results of ten years' work on 

 his own farm, producing cream, with 

 a herd of Jerseys. Mr. Putnam 

 stated that in 1903 he found that 

 with the increase cost of labor, 

 grain, etc., with the cow3 that he 

 had, he was not making the farm 

 pay. He decided to keep records and 

 find out what cows were losing the 

 money. 



At the beginning he was keeping 

 16 grade cows. The following ta- 

 bles show the production of the 

 best half and the poorest half in com- 

 parison: 



Best 8 Cows 1904 



6115 lbs. milk 213.30 Butter fat. 



5106 205.35 



4873 204.24 



4538 256.84 



4203 211.60 



4107 249.61 



4102 



214.0'; 



37212 1750,01 



4651 .\verage 218.50 



25S cans " 258.00 lbs. butter 

 Poorest 8 Cows 190 4 



2146 Ib.s. milk 126.61 Butter fat. 

 3376 164.45 



3687 177.00 



2S13 116.75 



4100 204.24 



3835 187.90 



4030 211.60 



3771 169.68 



27758 1358.23 



3469 Average 169.78 

 192 Cans " 200.00 lbs. butter 

 Difference between best and poor- 

 est 8 cows: 



66 Cans per cow 58 lbs. butter 

 Difference in income at 33c, $21.78 

 Total difference on S cows, $174.24 



Best Cow 1904 

 Pounds milk 6115 



Cans 33 9 



Av. test 4.2 



Lbs. butter fat 256.84 



Lbs. 85% butter 302.17 



Lbs. milk for 1 11). butter 20.2 



Best Cow 1914 

 Pounds Milk 9580 



Cans milk 532 



Av. test 5.1 



Lbs. fat 488.77 



Lbs. 85% butter 575.02 



Lbs. milk for 1 lb butter 16.66 



After ten years' work with a set 

 of scales, a pencil, and the use of 

 poor blood bulls and a few registered 

 cows the following results were ob- 

 tained: 



Best 16 Cows 1914. 



7144 lbs. milk av. 379.84 butter fat 



379 Cans 446.87 lbs. butter 



Best 8 Cows 1904 

 258 Cans av. 258 lbs. butter 



139 Cans difference 1SS.S7 butter 

 54% increase 



Value of increase 

 139 cans milk at 33c, $45.87 



Increase grain cost 11.12 



N«t value increased milk $34.75 

 In herd 20 cows $695 



Continued on Page 2 



NOTICE TO 

 TOBACCO GROWERS 



There has been a great deal of 

 misunderstanding regarding an app 

 ropriation for the purpose of provid- 

 ing" for experimental work in tobac- 

 co growing. The following letter 

 by President Butterfleld of the 

 Mass. Agricultural College addressed 

 to the Farm Bureau explains the 

 final disposal of the resolve, states 

 clearly the position of the college 

 and the work it is planning to do 

 undar the present consideration for 

 the benefit of the tobacco growers. 

 Gentlemen: 



"I tliiuk that I ought perhaps to 

 make a general statement eoncern- 

 ng the development and status of 

 the proposed scheme for tobacco 

 growing at tlie College. 



"Repsesentative Lyman writes me 

 that the Committee itimized the ap- 

 propriation of twenty thousand dol- 

 lars which was assigned tor im- 

 provements and equipment, and it 

 was understood that one of these 

 I items covered the tobacco proposi- 

 tion. This itemization, however, 

 has apparently not been made. The 

 Attorney-General felt that we nei- 

 ther were required nor empowered 

 to use any of this money for experi- 

 niiental work in tobacco growing, 

 but both he and the Auditor agreed 

 that we could use some of it for 

 equipment, so that a sum of money 

 has been set apart for the purpose 

 of equipment needed in connection 

 with tobacco investigation, and is 

 available for Dr. Chapman in this 

 work. 



"Inasmuch as it is not possible 

 to employ special help, which, had 

 the two thousand dollar appropria- 

 tion been obtained, could have been 

 obtained for the purpose of making 

 investigatons in the fields of grow- 

 ers and for superintending field ex- 

 periments which it is proposed to 

 try, we are able only to assign Dr. 

 Chapman to certain lines of tobacco 

 sickness and the carrying on of ex- 

 periments which we hope may lead 

 to the discovery of methods of pre- 

 vention. Dr. Chapman has devoted 

 Continued on Page 3 



