THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Published By The 



Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



A. F. MacDougall, County Agent 



Office, First National Bank Bldg. 



Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as second class matter 



Nov. 9, 1915 at the post office at 



Northampton, Massachusetts, under 



the Act of March 8, 1879. 



OFFICERS OF THE FABM BUBEATT 



LeslLe R. Smith, President, Hadley. 



W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, Northamp- 

 ton 



John Mensel, Secretary, Northamp- 

 ton. 



Advisory Board 



I.pslie R. Smith, Hadley 



Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg 



Ferley E. Davis, Granby 



C. E. Hodpkins, Nortliampton 



Warren M. King, Northampton 



Wm. N. Howard, Ware 



E. B. Clapp, Easthampton 



FARMERS" PATRIOTIC DUTY 



"I urge our farmers as a matter of 

 patriotic duty t,o cultivate every 

 foot of their soil; none of it is too 

 poor to raise something. White 

 navy beans and buckwheat will be 

 in demand — in fact, anything that is 

 food for man or beast will be a con- 

 tribution to the pressing needs of 

 our country. 



"Our farmers should require no 

 greater inducement than the pres- 

 ent high prices of all farm products 

 to encourage them in the cultivation 

 of every foot of tillable soil. Th° 

 fact tliat no large stocks of food 

 will this year be carried over is in 

 itself an assurance that the price of 

 farm produce will be high for an- 

 other year, even if peace were im- 

 mediately declared." 



Gov. Fhilipp of Wisconsin. 



NORTHAMPTON- MANUFACTUR- 

 ERS RESPOND 

 The manufacturers of Northamp- 

 ton have raised $10,000 to be used 

 in cultivating about eighty acres in 

 the Hockanum Meadows. It is esti- 

 mated that the sum available will 

 be adequate to grow fifty acres of 

 corn and thirty acres of potatoes. 

 The contributors are moved only by 

 patriotic impulses, hoping to pro- 

 vide foodstuffs for their- employes at 

 cost prices, and promising that any 

 surplus will be turned over to the 

 Red Cross or some other worthy or- 

 ganization. 



EMERGENCY WORK 



The Hampshire County Farm Bu- 

 reau is co-operating most heartily 

 with the County Committee on Pood 

 Production and Conservation. Mr. L. 

 R. Smith, president of the Bureau, is 

 also chairman of this committee and 

 is devoting all of his time at pres- 

 ent in the important work of mol)i- 

 lization along agricultural lines. An 

 extension office has been procured, 

 and Prof. Jones and Mr. Rand of 

 ;.he staff of the State College are put- 

 ting in practically all their time to 

 meet the increased demands for ser- 

 vice. 



The Committee has visited nearly 

 every town of the county already, 

 holding in each a mass meeting to 

 encourage food production, and or- 

 ganizing a local town committee to 

 work in conjunction with the coun- 

 ty organization. Mr. Purrington of 

 Haydenville has presented his so- 

 called 50-50 proposition (described 

 elsewhere in this issue) to the vari- 

 ous towns with considerable re- 

 sponse. The co-operation of the 

 banks is a notable feature of the 

 campaign, and the enlistment of the 

 manufacturers in the $10,000 proj- 

 ect is highly significant. 



A survey of the farms in the coun- 

 ty has been made and the commit- 

 tee is now seeking to provide labor 

 as far as possible for the farmers 

 who need it. It is obvious that expe- 

 rienced labor is hard to get at any 

 price, but it is hoped that student 

 help will be forthcoming at reason- 

 able rates and will prove satisfac- 

 tory for the present crisis. There is 

 to be an endeavor to interest such 

 high school boys as can stand farm 

 work physically, in the hope that 

 they can be employed near at home. 

 In case any farmers were missed in 

 the survey and desire more help, it 

 would be well for them to get in 

 touch with the Bureau, through 

 i the town commmittee. 



The County Committee is already 

 making plans for a campaign for 

 conservation when the time shall 

 come, and a sub-committee is work- 

 ing on the problem. The entire 

 committee has voted to meet every 

 Tuesday afternoon in the Board of 

 Trade Rooms during May. The mem- 

 bers of this committee are as fol- 

 lows: 



Members of the Advisory Board 

 of the Farm Bureau and Messrs. J. 

 A. Sullivan, E. F. Stratton, S. D. 

 Drury, W. D. Mandell, H. H. Chil- 

 son, Collins H. Gere and H. N. Loo- 

 mis, Northampton. 



Dr. A. E. Cance, M. A. C. Am- 

 herst. 



JI. S. Howes, Cummington. 

 Wm. Cordes. Florence. 

 W. M. Purrington. Haydenville. 

 E. J. Burke, Hadley. 

 Mrs. F. AV. Bement and Mrs. B. 

 B. Hinckley, Northampton. 

 Mrs. Clifton Johnson, Hadley. 



GARDEN MOBILIZATION IN THE 

 COUNTY 



The nation is looking partly to 

 the townsman for the supply of the 

 world's food in this crisis. He is 

 being encouraged to devote his leis- 

 ure hours and his bit of backyard 

 to agriculture. And in case lie has 

 no land, others who have it in ab- 

 undance are being urged to make 

 their own available for him. This 

 work is in charge of the town com- 

 mittee appointed for the purpose. 



In Easthampton such a commit- 

 tee has been appointed with Mr. E. 

 B. Clapp as manager. A working 

 capital of $3000 has been donated 

 by local citizens and H. Af Rors- 

 trom, a senior at the state college, 

 has been hired as supervisor of the 

 gardens. Tracts of land have been 

 given for the season and most of 

 them are already plowed and staked 

 into plots. 700 bushels of potato 

 seed, several bags of beans, and a 

 carload of fertilizer have been pur- 

 chased. 



In Ware the manufacturers have 

 given forty acres for gardens to be 

 cared for by about four hundred 

 adults. T. J. Gasser has been hired 

 from the college to take charge nf 

 the work and two carloads of seed 

 potatoes and two of fertilizer have 

 been ordered. 



In Northampton, 650 children 

 have enlisted for garden work, 200 

 of them on land given and prepared 

 by C. E. Childs. .\ survey has been 

 made of Northampton to ascertain 

 what assistance each home rs pre- 

 pared to give to the children. Sat- 

 urday, May 5th, has been designat- 

 ed as "school planting day" and 

 most of the gardens will be planted 

 at that time. Fifty Smith College 

 girls have volunteered their , serv- 

 ices until the middle of June and' 

 the gardening will be done under 

 volunteer supervision by Northamp- 

 ton women. 



In Northampton there have also 

 been l.'iO applications for land by 

 adults, 25 acres being provided in 

 various parts of the city. Mr. Wirt 

 Drai-y of Amherst has been engaged 

 as supervisor. Five acres have al- 

 ready been plowed and the work is 

 being done on a working capital, 

 raised in the city. 



