THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Published By The 



HampsMre Connty Paxm Snrean 

 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 BUEEAU 



Leslie R. Smith, President, Hadley. 

 W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, Northainp- 

 ton 



A. F. MacDougall, Secretary, North- 

 ampton. 



Advisory Board 



Leslie R. Smith, Hadley 



Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg 



Ferley E. Davis, Granby 



C. E. Hodgkins, Northampton 



Warren M. King, Northampton 



Wta. N. Hovfard, Ware 



E. B. Clapp, Easthampton 



FERTinZEK SOABING IN PRICE 



Commercial fertilizer has risen from 

 twenty to thirty per cent in price, ac- 

 cording to the July price lists. This in 

 itself is startling enough, but it is 

 generally agreed that it will become 

 constantly higher. In view of the 

 alarming situation there seem to be 

 two or three things which may be 

 done. 



Farmers may order fertilizer now 

 for another season. High as it is, 

 it is bound to be higher, and it is 

 quite possible that some advantageous 

 ari-angement may be made ii the mat- 

 ter is taken up at once. Farmers 

 should be encouraged to use lime on 

 sour soils and do everything they can 

 to promote the growth of clovers on 

 their land. The legumes are the only 

 plants that have the power of taking 

 nitrogen, the most expensive of plant 

 foods, from the air and adding it to 

 the soil. And in the third place, farm- 

 ers should, whenever feasible, grow a 

 cover crop this fall to plow under in' 

 the spring. Where there is plenty of 

 moisture a cover crop of rye or some 

 such thing may be sown in the corn 

 during the last cultivation; and cer- 

 tainly a cover crop should be grown 

 in the orchards. The time has come 

 when we must take every precaution 

 to preserve the goodness of our ma- 

 nure and use every means possible to 

 maintain the food content of the soil 



MAKE SAVING RATHER THAN 



SPENDING YOUR SOCIAL 



STANDARD 



Use cereals freely, — flour, meal, 

 breakfast-foods. Prepare them care- 

 fully and vary to avoid monotony. 



Drink milk, and use it in cooking. 

 Each child should have a quart a day. 

 Skim milk lacks the fat but has pro- 

 tein and mineral matter essential io 

 health. For adults the requirement of 

 body-building foods, (meats, meat- 

 substitutes, fruits, vegetables) is no? 

 large. 



Plan your meals closely. Provide 

 neither too little, nor too much. No- 

 tice how much of the staple foods, 

 flour, sugar, milk, etc., you use each 

 week and reduce when possible. Buy 

 non-perishables either alone or with 

 your neignbors, in large quantiti.'s 

 when the reduction in price warrant 

 it and you have provisions for storage. 

 Watch your garbage can for sugges 

 tions of thrift. Seek to overcome "fin 

 icky" tastes in yourself and family. 



True economy lies not only in buy- 

 ing wisely, but also in making the 

 fullest possjble use of what is bought. 



THINNING 



It is simply calling attention to 

 what every good farmer knows to 

 speak of thinning cultivated plants. 

 Yet we frequently neglect to attend 

 to this in the rush of other work. It 

 is perfectly obvious that plants 

 crowded together will become all 

 top and no body, probably stunted 

 in growth and imperfect in yield. A 

 man cannot raise three good carrots 

 in a square inch of earth nor sev- 

 en or eight good stalks of corn in a 

 hill. As to the distance to which 

 plants should be thinned, a little 

 recollection as to the size of the 

 plant at maturity and a little com- 

 mon sense will direct. 



PUMPKINS 



Where have the pumpkins gone? 

 That is a question which is being 

 asked not only by the Halloween 

 youngsters and the autumnal poets, 

 but also by the agricultural special- 

 ists. 



That there is value in the pump- 

 kin is self-evident. They are a 

 splendid succulent feed for cattle 

 and hogs. The United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture reports 

 that by weight uncooked pumpkins 

 are two thirds as nutritious as sil- 

 age. More than that, they act as an 

 appetizer and a corrective of diges- 

 tive troubles. It has been found 

 that 400 lbs of pumpkins will save 

 between 100 and 150 lbs of grain 

 in producing 100 Ibe of pork. And 

 then there is pumpkin pie. 



Moreover pumpkins are easy to 

 grow. They are planted during 

 hoeing in missing hills or regularly 

 in the rows. They grow with the 

 corn and require practically no at- 

 tention. They are convenient to 

 harvest and simple to store. It isn't 

 too late to plant them. Doesn't it 

 seem worth while? 



THE HELP PROBLEM 



There is little to say about the help 

 situation, ihe Bureau has been able 

 to get some satisfactory men but the 

 demand is exceeding the supply. Many 

 men who apply for farm work lunk 

 when confronted by an actual job. Ex- 

 perienced men are seldom available. 

 Some of them are engaged in other 

 occupations, and it may be necessary 

 to try to secure their release for the 

 harvesting season. But none of them 

 have expressed any desire for this 

 shift. Inexperienced men (and boys) 

 are disturbed to find out how Ttttle 

 they have any right to expect by way 

 of pay and many of them will not 

 consider a job beyond reach of Mount 

 tain Park. The Bureau is glad to 

 know the needs of the farmers and is 

 doing all that it can to meet them. 



CLEAN MILKING CONTEST 



Notice has been received of the 

 provision for $3000 to be awarded 

 this year to those dairymen, juniors, 

 or hired men who stand highest in 

 their respective classes in clean 

 milking. There are 200 prizes for 

 the owners, ranging from $5 to $15. 

 For the juniors and hired men there 

 are only 100 each, ranging from $4 

 to $8. However, a single sample 

 may count for both owner and the 

 junior or hired man who does the 

 milking. The competition is most 

 simple and preeminently fair. Farm- 

 ers are urged to apply for entry 

 blanks to P. M. Harwood, State 

 House, Boston. 



GALA DAY FOR GARDENERS 



On Saturday. June 23. the children 

 of Northampton who are caring lor 

 gardens under supervision, together 

 with their supervisors, attended a fes- 

 tival at the driving park. Members of 

 the Grand Army were present and 

 there was patriotic music. Captain 

 Hammond of Company I distributed 

 pins of honor, upon which was the 

 caption "Uncle Sam's Gardeners." 

 Prof. Farley of the State College ex- 

 plained the meaning of the work. The 

 Boy Scouts servt^d as marshalls and 

 distributed ice cream cones to all. 

 The celebration was made possible by 

 the work and generosity of the Equal 

 Suffrage Association of Northampton. 



