HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



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FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Published by the Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



PRICES 50 CENTS PER YEAR; $1.00 PER YEAR INCLUDING MEMBERSHIP IN FARM BUREAU 



Vol. 2 



Northampton, Mass., February, 1917 



No. 2 



THE NEW ENGLAND MILK PRO- 

 DUCERS' ASSOCIATION 



During the week of February 

 12th, organizers from the New Eng- 

 land Milk Producers' Association 

 were In the County and four meet- 

 ings were held for the purpose of 

 explaining the organization and in- 

 creasing Its membership. Local as- 

 •oclatlons were formed In East- 

 hampton, Northampton, and Green- 

 wich Village. According to the con- 

 stitution adopted in Boston, Janu- 

 ary 10th, five members in one locali- 

 ty were necessary in order to form 

 a local. These locals elected offl- 

 oers and their presidents represent- 

 ed them in the county organiza- 

 tion — an organization composed of 

 all the locals formed in the county. 

 The president of the county or- 

 ganizations are members of the 

 Central Association and choose its 

 officers. The county presidents in 

 each state also elect one of their 

 number as a member of the exceu- 

 tive com.mlttee. This executive 

 committee Is composed of one mem- 

 ber from each of the New England 

 States. 



In Hampshire County, Mr. Ralph 

 Clapp, Easthampton, Mr. Joslah 

 Parsons. Northampton and Mr. 

 Charles Felton, Enfield are the lo- 

 cal presidents and Mr. Clapp is the 

 county president and delegate to 

 the central body. At the meeting 

 in Boston, February 22, Mr. Clapp 

 represented the County and report- 

 ed a very interesting and valuable 

 meeting. At that time, Mr. Elmer 

 Poole of North Dartmouth was 

 elected as the Massachusetts mem- 

 ber of the executive committee. 



The New England Milk Produc- 

 ers' Association is now in the hands 

 of the dairymen of New England 

 and their interest and leadership 

 will govern its success. The dairy- 

 men of this County who are ac- 

 quainted with the organization 

 strongly believe in Its purpose and 

 desire its protection. They believe 

 first, however, that their locals 

 which were formed this last fall 

 should be strengthened and proper- 

 ly financed. In nearly every case 



they have affiliated themselves with 

 the N. E. M. P. A. by having some 

 of their members Join, but until 

 their local, already formed, thor- 

 oughhly covers the district it rep- 

 resents and has a membership com- 

 posed of all the dairymen in their 

 section, they are of the opinion that 

 their locals would be weakened and 

 that also they would be of little 

 value to the N. E. M. P. A. Ev- 

 ery dairyman in the local and then 

 a representation In the New Eng- 

 land by as many of its members as 

 Dossible Is the opinion expressed by 

 many. 



A strong organization from the 

 bottom up is what the New England 

 farmer needs. The time is here for 

 united action and the farmers are 

 joining hands with surprising 

 quickness. 



WILLIAMSBimG FRUIT 



GROWERS' ASSOCIATION 



Tlie annual meeting of the Will- 

 iamsburg Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion was held In the Grange Hall, 

 Williamsburg, Wednesday, Febru- 

 ary 14th. The morning was devot- 

 ed to reports of the officers of the 

 as^iociation; dinner was served at 

 noon by the ladies of the Grange 

 and in the afternoon, talks were giv- 

 en on Spraying by Austin D. Kil- 

 ham of the Mass. Agricultural Col- 

 lege and Prof. F. C. Sears, also of 

 the College on Future Competition 

 for Western & Southern Orchards. 

 About sixty people were present 

 and much interest and enthusiasm 

 was shown in the reports of the 

 work of the organization for the 

 past year. Mr. Ellis Clark, Mgr., 

 reported 2 carloads lime and one 

 carload spray materials bought and 

 2031 barrels of apples sold. 



This year, growers in the towns 

 of Williamsburg, Chesterfield, Wor- 

 thington, Goshen, Cummington and 

 Plainfield, marketed their apples 

 through the Association. The mem- 

 bership has nearly doubled, the 

 name of the organization is becom- 

 ing known on the market and the 

 prospects are that It has won a fixed 



place in the western part of Hamp- 

 shire County. This next year the 

 members are planning to attempt to 

 prune and spray more thoroughly 

 and thus increase the quality of the 

 fruit. 



All the farmers outside of Will- 

 iamsburg with one or two exceptions 

 hauled their apples as soon as har- 

 vested, direct to the packing house 

 which is located near the railroad 

 station. Here the fruit was grad- 

 ed and packed according to the 

 Massachusetts Apple Grading Law 

 and each farmer was given credit 

 for so many barrels Grade A, B, etc. 

 that his fruit packed. The farm- 

 ers in Williamsburg had their fruit 

 packed on the farm and it was 

 hauled direct to the cars when de- 

 sired. A sizing machine was used 

 on all the fruit, thus making the 

 fruit more uniform and attractive 

 in the barrel. 



The following summary is made 

 and deductions drawn on the mar- 

 keting of the apples this season. 



Total bbls. packed 2031 

 Total amount received $4929.78 



Fruit Graded Bbls. Price 



Grade A 304% 13.00 



Grade B 1125% 2.45 



Ungraded 601 2.00 



Average for the grades 2.43 



Culls 143 .39 



Bbl. Total 



Cost Packing Av. 21.5c $436.42 

 Asso. Tax 5.0 

 Caps & Lithographs 



A & B 3.0 



Ungraded 1.0 150.46 

 Hauling (Packing 



shed only) 3.0 30.92 



Loading 2.0 38.16 



Total Expense $655.96 



Expense per bbl. 32c 

 Average Net to Grower, $2.11 bbl. 



It was the prevailing idea that it 

 cost more to pack the fruit in the 

 store-house than it did to go from 

 farm to farm packing the fruit, 

 Che reasons being that the fruit haa 

 Continued ou Page Three. 



