THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



BUREAU BUYS SEED POTATOES 



Tlie Hampshire County Farm Bu- 

 reau has recently bought and dis- 

 posed of a carload of seed potatoes 

 (eight hundred bushels) and an 

 order has been sent in for a second 

 carload. This was done not in com- 

 petition but in co-operation with 

 the local seed dealers, for the pur- 

 pose of niee'ing the unusual demand. 

 The deal was ma_de possible by vir- 

 tue of a note signed by patriotic 

 members of the County Committee 

 on Food Production and Conserva- 

 tion. 



edge. The cases of the boys who 

 borrow money for their enterprise 

 are peculiarly fitted to exert this in- 

 fluence. 



They will give to the young peo- 

 ple a real share in our patriotic re- 

 sponse as a nation to a great world 

 crisis. They will be better citizens 

 to-morrow for their service today. 



If the clubs come to your town 

 and your boys wish to join, give 

 them every encouragement. 



NEW DEPARTMENT IN BUREAU 

 A new department has been es- 

 tablished in the Bureau to take 

 charge of the Boys' and Girls' club 

 work. The demand for this has been 

 very great, and the Bureau takes 

 pleasure in announcing the appoint- 

 ment of Mr. John Mensel of North- 

 ampton as head of this work. Mr. 

 Jlensel is a graduate of Dartmouth, 

 1916, and has had some experience 

 in farming in Chester, Mass., and 

 in the middle West. At present he 

 is busy througliout the county in- 

 teresting the young people in the 

 work and perfecting their organiza- 

 tion for it. 



The attempt to line up the boys 

 and girls .in all kinds of agricultural 

 club work is not an emergency mea- 

 sure. Of course it is obvious that 

 the more hands, under proper guid- 

 ance, at work in tlie gardens of the 

 earth, the greater will be the har- 

 vest. And every peck of potatoes 

 looms large this year. But the whole 

 movement has more significance than 

 this. 



It will further acquaint the boys 

 and girls with the soil, teaching the 

 more ignorant many things and even 

 the farm boy some. Tt is import- 

 ant that our people know more 

 about, gardening. When the war 

 shall be over it will still be desir- 

 able, both from the standpoint of 

 health • and from that of economy, 

 that every man with a backyard 

 have something of value growing 

 there. And the farmers themselves 

 are not wholly above criticism in 

 this matter. Tlie clubs look far to 

 the future. 



They will develop in the young 

 folks a new sense of responsibility. 

 It is a great thing for a boy, or man 

 either, to have some one project for 

 the success or failure of which he is 

 wholly responsible. It is upon such 

 training that character depends. 

 The clubs give to the gardener just 

 such a project, and the way in 

 which it is handled must be to some 

 degree a matter of common knowl- 



DO YOU DRINK MILK? 



The following table, compiled by 

 specialists of the United States De- 

 partment of A.griculture, shows the 

 qualities of various foods needed to 

 supply as much protein or energy as 

 1 quart of milk. 



Protein — 1 quart of milk: 7 ounc- 

 es of sirloin steak; 6 ounces of round 

 steak; 4.3 eggs; S.6 ounces of fowl. 



Energy — 1 quart of milk: 11 

 ounces of sirloin steak; 12 ounces 



gORN TO THE RESCUE 



The United States stands first 

 among the nations of the world in 

 the production of corn. In other 

 words, we produce three-fourths of 

 the world's corn. It may be a sur- 

 prise to some to learn that corn will 

 produce two-thirds more food per 

 acre than wheat. We have no crop 



so well adapted to both man and 

 beast which will yield anywhere 

 near as much per acre as corn. We 

 would in no way discourage the 

 sowing of wheat or minimize its 

 importance, for we need more wheat, 

 and bread is an all important food 

 product. 



It is our purpose, however, to urge 

 a larger acreage of corn this year 

 and to emphasize the value and im- 

 portance of the corn crop. There is 

 still time to make preparation for 

 a larger corn crop and it may be 

 done with a feeling that it is no 

 makeshift but as valuable a crop as 

 can be grown. 



The average yield of corn in tlie 

 United States is about 26 bushels 

 per acre and wheat averages about 

 15 bushels. Neither of these crops 

 was up to the average last year, and 

 with the increased demand for food 

 by the nations across the seas, the 

 present supply of corn and wheat is 

 made very low. It would Be a very 

 unusual condition to have an over- 

 production of either of these crops. 

 It is safe, as anything can be in ag- 

 riculture, to plant, a large acreage 

 of corn, for the world needs it and 

 a good price is practically guaran- 

 teed. 



We appreciate that corn needs 

 close attention during the time of 

 cultivation and that this is a busy 

 season of the year for the farmer. 

 The scarcity of labor may lead some 

 to doubt the wisdom of increasing 

 the acreage of corn. But we have 

 reason to believe that the problems 

 of securing labor for taking care of 

 the farm crops is going to be met. 

 Every city throughout our nation is 

 alive to the farmers' problems and 

 organizations are being formed 

 which will extend a helping hand 

 when needed. 



This is no time for doubting or 

 hesitating, but rather a time for 

 belief and action. Our country is 

 calling for food and it is our duty 

 to heed this call. — Hoard's Dairy- 

 man. 



BUCKWHEAT FOR LATE PLANT- 

 ING 



Buckwheat may be planted later 

 than any similar crop, and often 

 does well on old meadows or waste 

 land that can be broken after the 

 more exacting crops are planted. In 

 some sections where experience has 

 demonstrated that the cereals, ex- 

 cept rye, can not be relied on, 

 buckwheat is a crop of considerable 

 importance. The acreage could well 

 be increased, especially in portions 

 of New York, Pennsylvania and 

 New England, where the crop now 

 is grown to a considerable extent. — 

 U. S. Dcpt. of Agriculture. 



