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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU 



NTHLY 



Vol. II. 



NOKTHAMPTUX, MASS., (K'T<JBER, 1!»17 



No. 10 



The Potato Situation 



Potatoes in Hampshire County are not 

 turning out well this year. That the 

 crop in the meadows will not average a 

 hundred bushels an acre does not cause 

 any surprise, but that the crop in the 

 hill towns should be hovering about the 

 same rate is not so easily explained. One 

 party growing potatoes on a commercial 

 scale among the hills reports an average 

 of fifty bushels, which will not meet ex- 

 penses at probable prices. It is quite 

 possible that after their late start the 

 hot spell caught them just as the tubers 

 were beginning to grow and caused a 

 check which the plants could not over- 

 come later. Some patches suffered badly 

 from the aphis. Amateurs in many in- 

 stances reported that their potato vines 

 were "ripe" when they were prema- 

 turely dead instead. The early frost did 

 some harm. But whatever the explana- 

 tion, the fact remains that the local crop 

 is about half of what was estimated on 

 the basis of acreage and not much above 

 the usual yield in actual bushels. 



At this wi'iting there are some patches 

 still green and growing, and this late 

 growth is highly important from the 

 standpoint of a market crop. Now and 

 then there is a man who does not take 

 full advantage of this. 



There seems to be no serious problem 

 of marketing in Hampshire County this 

 fall. Agent MacDougall has talked the 

 matter over with the farmers of Cum- 

 mington, Plainfield, Goshen and Chester- 

 field, and they are certain that they can 

 handle their crop without the aid of a 

 cooperative organization. They have 

 facilities for storage and are financially 

 able to hold their crop until it seems 

 wise to sell. They do not anticipate any 

 trouble in getting rid of the crop. The 

 potatoes owned by the investors in the 

 fifty-fifty plan will very likely be gath- 

 ered and stored until it is expedient to 

 sell. To break even they must command 

 a price of about $2.00 a bushel. 



And that raises the question of price. 

 Concerning that we hear all sorts of con- 

 flicting reports. Some predict that it 

 will exceed $3.00 and one man of con- 

 siderable authority is reported as saying 

 it will be as low as $.75. Of course no 

 one knows very much about it. The 

 crop in the middle West is reported be- 



BOYS AND GIRLS' EXHIBIT. 3COUNTY FAIR Photo 



tween two and tliree times larger than 

 usual. If this is true, there is still the 

 problem of transportation in these con- 

 gested times, and it seems reasonable 

 that Western potatoes will not be very 

 cheap when they reach New England. 

 Maine is reporting a crop slightly 

 smaller than that of last year, and the 

 local garden patches have suffered in 

 various v/ays and will not have a great 

 influence upon the general market. It 

 seems conservative to say that potatoes 

 will reach $2.00 before spring. 



White Pine Blister Rust 



The White Pine Blister Rust is present 

 in every county in Massachusetts. Our 

 white pines vrill be killed by millions and 

 may go the way of the American chestnut 

 tree. But the disease which promises to 

 render the chestnut tree extinct is im- 

 possible to control because it spreads di- 

 rectly from one chestnut to another. The 

 White Pine Blister Rust cannot spread 

 from one pine to another but must have 

 currant or gooseberry bushes on which to 

 grow before it can spread back to the 

 pines. When the currants or goose- 

 berries are destroyed, the bridge, across 

 which the Blister Rust must pass in 

 order to infect other pines, is destroyed 

 and no more pines are killed. No pine 

 has eve)- been known to recover from the 

 Blister Rust. 



The Blister Rust is a fungus. The 

 only part of the fungus which we see 

 is the seeds or spores which show on 

 Concluded on page 2 



Northampton Fair 



The Farm Bureau had charge of the ' 

 Boys' and Girls' Department at the 

 Northampton Fair. It was located in a 

 fine new building, made of brick and 

 conveniently situated on the grounds. 

 The apprehension about filling it with 

 displays disappeared long before the last 

 entry came in; in fact the greatest diffi- 

 culty of the men in charge proved to be 

 to find room for all of the exhibits. This 

 means that another year more table 

 room will be provided. 



There were school exhibits from Had- 

 ley, Hatfield, Easthampton, Holyoke and 

 Smith's Agricultural School, first pre- 

 mium cups being won by the first and 

 last, each in its own class. The West- 

 harnpton canning club displayed 160 cans 

 of fruit and vegetables which the chil- 

 dien had canned with a spoilage per- 

 centage of less than 2 per cent. There 

 were nearly a dozen individual vegetable 

 displays, all of them being most ci-edi- 

 table. And the single vegetable exhibits 

 piled up on the tables until the problem 

 of keeping them straight became a seri- 

 ous one. They were judged by Agent 

 Putnam of Franklin County. 



Five pigs were exhibited by pig club 

 members. The various judging contests 

 have already been mentioned. Compli- 

 mentary tickets for school children the 

 first day resulted in a large attendance. 

 Special commendation should be given to 

 the children of the hill towns who sent 

 in exhibits under great inconvenience. 

 Concluded on page T 



