HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



A. F. MacDoxisall. County Asrent 

 Helen A. Harriinaii, Home Deiii. Aeeiit 

 C. H. Gould. Boys' and Girls' Club Leader 



Office First National Bank Building 

 Northampton, Mass. 

 Entered as second class matter Nov. 9. 1915. at the 

 Post OiBce at Northampton. Massachusetts, under 

 the Act of March 8, 1S7U. 



Price. 50 cents a year 

 $1 a year, including membership in Farm Bureau 



Officers of the Farm Bureau 



Leslie R. Smith, President, Hadley 



W. D. Mandell, Treasurer, Northampton 



A. F. MacDougall, Secretary 



ADVISOUY BO.\KD 



Leslie R. Smith, Hadley 



Chas. R. Damon, Williamsburg 



Perley E. Davis, Granby 



C. E. Hodgkins, Northampton 



Warren M. King. Northampton 



Wm. N. Howard, Ware 



E. B. Clapp, Easthampton 



The County Fair 



Many county fairs are undergoing 

 quite radical changes in policy and are 

 endeavoring to create an exhibition of 

 value and worth. The Agents of the 

 Bureau have attended every fair held in 

 Hampshire County and they are of the 

 opinion that the people are alive and 

 awake to the educational possibilities of 

 a fair managed in the right way and 

 under proper auspices. We feel heartily 

 in accord with this quotation clipped 

 from an exchange. 



"It is well nigh time that fairs are 

 coming into their own. Of all years, 

 this is the year in which people are 

 vitally concerned with the materialistic 

 things of life, and a view of the county 

 fairs this season will see the worthless, 

 trashy, composite exhibit, give way to 

 the exhibit which teaches; a larger, bet- 

 ter, more carefully selected exhibit will 

 take the place of the 'filler', which has 

 no value." 



Evidence of this new appreciation of a 

 fair is cropping out in Hampshire 

 County. Fair officials have indicated 

 that they hoped to reduce the emphasis 

 on the midway. From our observations 

 we believe patrons of the fair, particu- 

 larly in the smaller towns, pay less at- 

 tention to Egyptian soothsayers and 

 Bobo boys than they do to live demon- 

 strations and good exhibits. Then, why 

 not increase the value of the show for 

 which exhibitors work hard to create? 



The Bureau agents have an oppor- 

 tunity to make comparisons. We note 

 numerous flaws and inconsistencies in 

 premium lists; we observe that in some 

 instances the boys and girls make almost 



New Draft Classification 



The new classification of registrants 

 for the second army draft gives more 

 consideration to the key men on the farms 

 and managers of necessary agricultural 

 enterprises. There are five classes, the 

 men in class I to be drawn first, then 

 the men in the second class and so on. 

 A skilled farm laborer engaged in a 

 necessary agricultural enterprise is 

 listed in class IL Highly specialized 

 agricultural experts in agricultural bu- 

 reaus of state or nation come in class 

 in, as do assistant managers of neces- 

 sary agricultural enterprises. Heads of 

 necessary agricultural enterprises come 

 under class IV. 



The Department of Agriculture's de- 

 scription of the work of sheep on the 

 Morgan Horse Farm, appears as though 

 it might have been written expressly for 

 farmers in our own County. Many 

 mowings in our western towms are in the 

 same predicament as the Morgan Farm, 

 and this practical, specific remedy for 

 the paint brush infestation is one that 

 cannot pass unheeded. It is seldom that 

 we find a sure remedy and a profitable 

 investment combined. 



The Food Conservation Section of the 

 United States Food Adminstration is 

 about to issue a bulletin of in.structions 

 and suggestions to Librarians in order 

 that they may cooperate with the Ad- 

 minstration in placing before the people 

 of the United States the ways in which 

 we may at home help win the war. Li- 

 brarians are so organized as to get in 

 touch with all people, rich, poor, young 

 and old. 



the entire display. This speaks well for 

 the young people, but the adults should 

 maintain their own. We believe that 

 many times the avei-age exhibitors sufl'er 

 because of the monopoly of professional 

 exhibitors who reap gains at the expense 

 of other likely exhibitors whom they 

 have unconsciously intimidated. We feel 

 that at one fair there is opportunity for 

 one of the best bonefide cattle shows that 

 exists. Few people realize the quantity, 

 quality and variety of good stock kept 

 among the hill towns. Let's make the 

 fact known. It is hard for us to account 

 for the apparent relish with which a 

 large number of people of one town and 

 vicinity enjoy the fakers convention on 

 the Common. Would not the people ap- 

 preciate an Old Home Day, featured by 

 a more dignified exhibition? There 

 seems to be room for modification in the 

 management of our cattle shows. 



It is simply in a spirit of friendly com- 

 ment that we publish our observations. 

 Our criticism is constructive; we have 

 something to off'er in place of the defects 

 found, and stand ready to cooperate with 

 officials for the improvement of our 

 County Fairs. 



Extension Schools in Agriculture and 

 Home Economics 



During the past few years, the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College has car- 

 ried on five-day extension schools in the 

 following towns: Belchertown, Cum- 

 mington, Chesterfield, Prescott, Plain- 

 field, Westhampton and Worthington, 

 and the Farm Bureau, a school in 

 Middlefield. This year one or two more 

 of these schools will be available in the 

 county and any town interested should 

 immediately send in its retjuest. In 

 those towns that have had Extension 

 Schools or in towms that are so situated 

 that five-day school cannot be carried on 

 successfully, an attempt will be made 

 this year to hold two-day schools. These 

 schools of course cannot be as thorough 

 or cover as broad a field as the five-day 

 schools, but by specializing along the 

 lines of most value to the town, where 

 the school is to be held, it is hoped to 

 make them worth while. Diff"erent 

 phases in Home Making and Agriculture 

 will be taken up, and instructors from 

 the State College and the Farm Bureau 

 will carry on the school. Several towns 

 have already indicated their desire for 

 one of these schools. 



The Northampton Manufacturers Pro- 

 ject has been brought to a close. The 

 50 acres of corn were all sold standing, 

 and the potatoes have been harvested 

 and sold. A large part of the success of 

 the enterprise was due to the efficient 

 work of Josiah W. Parsons, who besides 

 running his own farm, which is one of 

 the largest in Northampton, managed 

 the 80 acres cultivated by the manufac- 

 turers. The committee in charge of the 

 enterprise was composed of Mr. Wil- 

 liam Cordes, Mr. S. L. Butler (manu- 

 facturers), Mr. Leslie R. Smith, (Farm 

 Bureaus), Josiah W. Parsons, manager. 

 The manufacturers grew these crops in 

 order to do their bit in meeting the 

 country's demand for increased crop pro- 

 duction. It was a splendid idea, suc- 

 cessfully carried to a finish, and if con- 

 ditions warrant it another spring, it is 

 hoped the enterprise may be repeated. 



About fifty members of the North- 

 ampton Board of Trade recently made a 

 neighborly visit to several towns in the 

 eastern part of the County. Stops were 

 made in Amherst, South Hadley, Granby, 

 Belchertown, Ware and at the Mixter 

 Farm, Hardwick. The autos also passed 

 through the towns of Greenwich, Pres- 

 cott and Pelham. Special mention 

 should be made of the cordial reception 

 given the members in the towns of Am- 

 herst, Belchertown and Ware. Trips of 

 this kind are a grand thing, helping to 

 unite the interests of Hampshire County. 



