FEQ b-v. 



HAMRSHIRE COUNTY 



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CVlJ 



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., April, 1917 



No. 4 



OUR FOOD SITUATION 



Cereals are the staple food crops 

 of the world. These are held over 

 from year to year and a shortage 

 any year or in any country is made 

 np by other countries or by a re- 

 serve supply left over from years of 

 good crops. 



Due to short crops and the Euro- 

 pear War, the present reserve sup- 

 ply of grain in the world is low. 

 Compared with normal times, tnere 

 is a shortage of 1.50.000,000 busnels 

 in the world's supply of corn, wheat, 

 oats, barley and rye. There seems 

 to be no chance of over-production 

 of any of these staple farm crops. 

 Careful estimates by authorities in- 

 dicate good prices another year 

 even if crops are good and the war 

 stops soon. 



No one will dispute the necessi- 

 ty of increasing our production of 

 these crops. Such work must be 

 gone into quickly but not hastily. 

 This is not a year to experiment or 

 to try new crops. Over the greater 

 part of Massachusetts, corn is the 

 only grain crop we normally grow. 

 Therefore, corn must be our con- 

 tribution to the world's grain sup- 

 ply. It is the duty of the Massa- 

 chusetts farmer to grow as much 

 corn for grain as possible. All of 

 us recognize the acute labor situ- 

 ation and hope for more satisfac- 

 tory conditions. In spite of all the 

 difficulties, every farmer must do 

 what he can. 



Of the other crops whose produc- 

 tion should be increased this year, 

 beans are probably second in im- 

 portance. There seems to be little 

 possibility of over-production of 

 these. Some of the problems with 

 this crop are: the labor question, 

 the high price of seed, and to some 

 extent the fact that beans are a 

 new field crop in New England. 



The question of regulation of 

 •prices by the government is on many 

 minds. It seems doubtful whether 

 anything will be done this year as 

 there are many details to work out. 

 There can be no dispute regarding 

 the justice of this for farmers and 

 our government will likely follow 

 the example of England if the war 

 continues. At the present time. 



there is every indication that high 

 prices for farm products will exist 

 another year. For both economic 

 and patriotic reasons our food pro- 

 ductions must be increased this 

 year. The American farmer must 

 not be found wanting at the present 

 time when our farms can do more 

 for the nation than our armies. 



THE PRESIDENT'S APPEAL 



Upon the farmers of this country, 

 therefore, in large measure rests the 

 fate of the war and the fate of the 

 nations. May the nation not count 

 upon them to omit no step that will 

 increase the production of their land 

 or that will bring about the most 

 effectual co-operation in tlie sale 

 and distribution of their products? 



The time is short. It is of the 

 most imperaf.ve importance that ev- 

 eryMiing possible be done and done 

 immediately to make sure of large 

 liarvests. I call upon young men and 

 old men alike and upon the able- 

 bodied boys of tlie land to accept and 

 act upon tJiis duty — to turn in hosts 

 to the farms and make certain that 

 no pains and no labor is lacking in 

 this great matter. 



WOODRO-W WILSON 



READY MONEY 



So much of the farmer's capital 

 is necessarily invested in his plant 

 that he is frequently handicapped 

 in the spring by a lack of available 

 cash.. The result is sometimes an 

 obvious and most detrimental limi- 

 tation of his operations. The rec- 

 cognition of this condition of affairs 

 has recently lecf to the establish- 

 ment of the Farm Loan Banks 

 throughout the country, based on 

 the principle that the farmer ought 

 to be able, by association, to bor- 

 row money more easily. And in this 

 connection it might be well to call 

 attention to similar opportunities 

 made possible by the hearty co-oper- 

 ation of the banks in the county and 

 of certain patriotic citizens of 

 means. 



First, the banks propose to lend 

 small sums of money to boys and 



girls wlio wish to undertake an ag- 

 ricultural project in a serious wa^-. 

 A boy or a girl with a definite plan 

 for the cultivation of an acre of corn 

 for example, may apply to the Farm 

 Bureau for flnancal assistance. On 

 the recommendation of the Bureau 

 the banks will advance from $10.00 

 to $20.00 by virtue of which the 

 Bureau will see to it that the young 

 farmer gets the necessary seed and 

 fertilizer. The borrower must give 

 a note for the sum received, signed 

 by himself and his parent or guard- 

 ian, and pay back the principal with 

 interest at the usual rate (five per 

 cent) at the end of the season. In 

 tlie case of the savings banks which 

 require by law adequate security, 

 the banks themselves will provide 

 such security by means of a collat- 

 eral note covering the gross am- 

 ounts of these loans and given by 

 interested citizens of means. This 

 at least is true of the Northampton 

 Institution for Savings where all of 

 the money for the boys and girls 

 girls will doubtlessly be raised. 



The plan which is being pushed 

 by the Bureau and the County Com- 

 mittee in regard to adults is as fol- 

 lows. A farmer who thinks that he 

 could plant more acreage is to pre- 

 sent his project to the Bureau and 

 in case the proposition seems prac- 

 ticable the Bureau will seek to find 

 a public-spirited man in town who 

 will advance the money for the proj- 

 ect on a fifty-fifty basis: that is, on 

 the basis of an equal share of the 

 crop. The farmer invests his land, 

 tools, labor and attention; the oth- 

 er invests money for seed, fertilizer 

 and spraying materials; they share 

 equally in the profit or loss, pre- 

 sumably tlie former. It is desir- 

 able but not essential that the part- 

 ners in the enterprise be acquaint- 

 ances. Blanks for this agreement 

 are to be had from the Bureau, to 

 be filled out and signed and deposit- 

 ed with the Bureau. 



In case such money is not forth- 

 coming it has been made possible 

 to borrow from the banks, either on 

 the basis mentioned above, the fi- 

 nancial backers assuming tJie risk 

 and giving a note secured by one 

 half the crop as specified, or on the 

 Continued on page four. 



