THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



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 FARM BUREAU 



Leslie R. Smith, President, Hadley. 

 W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, Northaiiip- 



ton 

 , Secretary, 



Advisory Board 



Leslie R. Smith, Hadley 



Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg 



Ferley E. Davis, Granby 



C. E. Hodgkins, Northampton 



Warren M. King, Northampton 



Wm. N. Howard, Ware 



E. B. Clapp, Easthampton 



SUCCESSIVE GARDEN CROPS 



With the farmer the garden is oft- 

 en too much of a side show and not 

 enough of a hobby to command a 

 great deal of attention. Half re- 

 luctantly he takes the team away 

 from the corn field to plow it. and he 

 plants it in a hurry when he gets 

 an hour to spare in his busy life. 

 Frequently a good garden owes its 

 care to the farmer's wife. 



How often the farmer investigates 

 in August and exclaims, "Why there 

 is plenty of sweet corn." A plenty 

 there usually is, but in a week most 

 of it is uneaten and no longer fit 

 to eat. And the farmer observes that 

 the season for sweet corn is over. 

 Then he makes the inevitable reso- 

 lution next year to plant his corn 

 in three or four batches, ten to 

 fourteen days apart, and then en- 

 joy the fruitage three or four times 

 as long. The same is true of let- 

 tuce, string beans, and other things. 



Did you make that resolution last 

 summer? And are you living up to 

 it? It is not yet too late. 



SPRAY YOUR APPLE TREES 



Don't get so busy that you forget 

 to spray the orchard. This is just 

 the time for the most important 

 spray of all. Full directions ap- 

 peared in the May issue of the 

 Monthly. 



SPRAYING POTATOES 



Spraying is absolutely necessary 

 to combat bugs and prevent blight. 

 Ii the case of the latter it is insur- 

 ance against loss and must be done 

 before the blight appears or the 

 larger part of its value will be lost. 

 In dry years when no blight de- 

 velops spraying keeps the plants in a 

 healthier condition and thus insures 

 a larger yield. It is not safe to at- 

 tempt to grow a crop of potatoes 

 without spraying. 



The proper application of a good 

 mixture is the secret of success. To 

 be effective, spraying must be done 

 thoroughly. The spray should be 

 applied as a fine mist so that it will 

 settle over and entirely cover the 

 vines, the under surface of the 

 leaves as well as the tops. 



For areas of one acre or less a 

 compressed air sprayer is good. 

 Knapsack sprayers which are car- 

 ried on the back and require con- 

 tinual pumping are also satisfactory. 

 A brass tank is the most durable 

 and satisfactory. Great care must 

 be taken with these sprayers that 

 the work is thoroughly done. For 

 five acres or more it is desirable to 

 buy a traction sprayer. For areas 

 between one and five acres the 

 problem is more diflScult . Barrel 

 sprayers with one or two leads of 

 hose, such as are used in orchards, 

 are very good. One reliable man is 

 needed at the pump to insure good 

 uniform pressure, and another 

 handles the spray. Somet'mes it is 

 possible to rent a traction sprayer. 

 This is a good year in which to buy 

 a traction sprayer co-operat'.vely. In 

 this way several men in one commu- 

 nity can obtain the use of an ex- 

 cellent machine at a minimum ex- 

 pense. It may be advisable to have 

 one man responsible for the ma- 

 chine to insure its proper care, and 

 quite possibly arrangements could 

 be made so that he would also do 

 all the work. Possible one man in 

 a community would invest in a trac- 

 tion sprayer on his own responsibili- 

 ty in case the others would guarantee 

 him a sufficient acreage to care for. 



The first spray should be applied 

 when the vines are about six inches 

 high, f«r both the blights and the 

 beetles. Another spray should fol- 

 low two weeks later, and subsequent 

 sprayings should be made througli- 

 out the season, during wet periods 

 as often as every ten or fourteen 

 days. Arsenate of lead is the most 

 satisfactory material for controlling 

 bugs, and Bordeaux is the most sat- 

 isfactory for the blight. For large 

 areas this mixture may be made as 

 it is needed, and at present tliis is 



the most economical way of prepar- 

 ing it. After the first two sprays 

 the arsenate of lead is no longer 

 needed unless the earlier applica- 

 tions have failed to destroy the bugs. 



Bordeaux mixture is commonly 

 composed of 4 lbs. of copper sul- 

 phate, 4 lbs. of lime, and 50 gals, 

 of water; hence the formula 4-4-50. 

 Late in the season it may be well 

 to increase the proportion to 5-5-50. 

 Dissolve the sulphate in 2 gals, of 

 hot water, using a wooden contain- 

 er. Then slake the lime in a wood- 

 en tub or half barrel until it has 

 reached a creamy consistency. Wheu 

 it is cold pour the lime mixture 

 through a wire strainer (about 20 

 meshes to an inch) into spray bar- 

 rel and fill it half full of water. 

 Then add the sulphate, properly di- 

 luted, and mix. It is possible to 

 keep the sulphate and lime mixtures 

 on hand, made on the basis of 1 lb, 

 per gal. Then four gals, of each 

 are mixed with the barrelful of wa- 

 ter. The arsenate of lead is thor- 

 oughly mixed with a little of the 

 Bordeaux and then strained into tha 

 barrel. About 3 lbs. of the poison 

 in paste form and about 1 % to 2 

 in powder are used to 50 gals, ot 

 Bordeaux. 



There are satisfactory ready- 

 mixed materials on the market. Some 

 contain simply the Bordeaux and 

 others have also the poison. Pyrox 

 and Bordeaux-lead contain both. 

 Parisgreen and arsenate of lead are 

 simply poisons. These ready-mixed 

 materials are convenient for small 

 areas, but simply as materials are 

 more expensive than the other. 



The Bureau will be glad to help 

 any farmers who will undertake to 

 keep records of the cost of growing 

 potatoes this season, furnishing ts 

 them blanks on which accounts may 

 be easily kept. These records will 

 be of great value for another year. 



CANS 



Tile County Committee has ord- 

 ered a carload of canning jars: 700 

 dozen of pint size and 1400 dozen of 

 quart. They are the Ball cans, 

 L'ghtning style, and will be sold for 

 approximately 75 cents a dozen for 

 the pints and SO cents for the quarts. 

 It is expected that most of them 

 will be sold from the car, but if it 

 is necessary, the committee will 

 transfer those that remain to a va- 

 cant store in Northampton tor a 

 two-day sale. Communities should 

 pool their orders and make arrange- 

 ments at the Bureau office for get- 

 ting the cans at once. Word has just 

 been received that the cans are oa 

 the way. 



