HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Vol. Ill, 



NORTHAMPTON. ]»IASS., .lANFAKY. J91S 



Ni 



Lookinjc Forward 



High prices for seed and fertilizer, ex- 

 pensive labor, and transportation diffi- 

 culties, make it a requirement that 

 farmers make their plans immediately for 

 their season's work, and choose more 

 carefully the lines they wish to develop 

 in order that they may close the year 

 with a reasonable profit. 



Present prices make snap-shot plan- 

 ning a dangerous and disastrous prac- 

 tice. Tho.'^e who depend, to a large ex- 

 tent, on commercial fertilizer in grow- 

 ing their crop, may be sadly disappointed 

 if they withhold their orders until spring. 

 With the shortage of labor, the farm 

 work must be so arranged that the best 

 use possible will be made of help that is 

 available. This means managing the 

 farm, so that the WDrk is disti-ibuted as 

 nearly as possible over the entire season. 

 Favor crops that can be grown by farm 

 machinery already on the farm. If new 

 machinery is necessary, and it is too ex- 

 pensive for a single farm to purchase, 

 two or more farmers or even communi- 

 ties may combine, as in the case of 

 threshing machines, etc., and thus reduce 

 the burden on the individual. This war 

 has proved to a great many towns, that 

 united efforts pay, and different agencies 

 are cooperating, whom we never thought 

 would join hands. 



Although many farmers closed 19J.7 

 ■with little or no profit, they realize that 

 our country is at war, our boys are 

 across the sea, and that they must lend 

 every effort to bring about a safe peace. 

 Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Carl Vrooman, clearly outlines the situa- 

 tion in the following paragraph : 



"We must procure the planting of large 

 <:rops, to be sure, but we must take par- 

 ticular care that the individual farmer 

 does not become bankrupt because of his 

 patriotic efforts, that fertility is not 

 drained for this year's croj) at the ex- 

 pense of crops that must be grown in 

 other years — for it is to be remembered 

 that the army in the furrows must hold 

 its lines till the war is won, and that 

 even when the soldiers of the trenches 

 are mustered out and sent to their homes, 

 our food products must still flow across 

 the seas to feed the people of desolated 

 lands." 



Conserve and use to the best advan- 

 tage, all home resources, keep thrifty 

 Concluded ou page h \ 



Concerning Co-operative Creameries 



1. Every cooperative creamery in 

 starting out should acquaint every patron 

 with the importance of a good sized 

 business. The best size bu.siness is 

 within reach of practically every dairy 

 community. To know the required busi- 

 ness, to work for it and maintain it, is 

 the part of good management of every 

 creamery. 



2. Quality of the butter is the second 

 important factor. It is possible for 

 every cooperative creamery to make first 

 class butter. Requirements for high- 

 grade butter demand delivery of cream 

 at least twice a week in winter and three 

 times a -week in summer, a first-class 

 butter-maker and cleanly conditions on 

 the farm where the cream is produced. 



3. Good business management of the 

 creamery is the third important factor 

 in success. The good business manage- 

 ment of a cooperative creamery is up to 

 the patrons. They must see that the 

 right men are elected to office, and then 

 inquire into the business of the creamery 

 every month until they are sure the right 

 men have been elected. 



— Kimball's Dairi/ Farmer. 



Market News Service 



The market news service, giving accu- 

 rate information as to supply and price 

 in the local markets will be of great 

 value to both producer and consumer. 

 The working plan is as follows: — 



Every Monday, Wednesday and Fri- 

 day morning, three or four retailers in 

 Springfield, Pittsfield, Holyoke, North- 

 ampton and Greenfield, quote the Mar- 

 ket Agent retail prices for the day on 

 the following products: apples, beans, 

 beets, cabbage, celery, onions, parsnips, 

 peas, potatoes, squa.sh, turnips, eggs, 

 fowl, chickens and butter. Facts con- 

 cerning the supply and condition of the 

 above products are also obtained. The '< 

 infoi'mation is telephoned to the office 

 of the Market Agent where it is tabu- 

 lated for the press, and special bulletins, 

 which will be issued soon. Wholesale 

 prices for Springfield, Boston and Pitts- 

 field will also be given. 



The possibilities of this service are 

 great, but they will be realized only in 

 proportion to the extent to which the 

 service is used by producers, distributors 

 and consumers. 



Concluied on piige 7 



January Feed Situation 



It is practically in)Pip§§ji^le to make up 

 a satisfactory grain mixture on feeds 

 quoted at the present time, December 20. 

 This is due to the absence of an unusu- 

 ally large number of feeds from the 

 market, some of the wholesalers not 

 quoting cotton seed meal, others no 

 gluten, and all of them apparently short 

 of hominy, di.stillers' grains, brewers' 

 giains and beet pulp. Another factor 

 that has led us not to suggest any mix- 

 ture this month is the new set of regu- 

 lations given out by the Food Adminis- 

 tration Board under which the flour 

 millers are to operate after December 

 2.5th. Quoting from a report of a large 

 New England wholesaler, "Bran is to be 

 sold at a price per ton not exceeding 

 33'v of the average cost of wheat to the 

 miller, 'shorts' • te be sold at approxi- 

 mately $2.00 per ton above bran, flour 

 middlings not more than $9.00, and 

 mixed feeds not more than $4.00 above 

 the price of bran." It would .seem that 

 this ruling, if it proves efi'ective, will 

 tend to make more stable the price of 

 feed stuffs. 



In our work in the state this past 

 month our attention has been called to 

 the exorbitant price some retail feed 

 dealers are charging for certain feeds. 

 In one case a spread of $13.00 per ton 

 between the retail and the wholesale price 

 was reported, and several other in- 

 stances were noted where the retailer 

 was asking a price of $8.00 per ton over 

 the wholesale rate. 



It might be well to call to the atten- 

 tion of the feeders in your county that 

 according to a ruling of the Food Ad- 

 ministraton Board even the largest 

 jobber must sell feed to anyone who has 

 the money to buy in car lots. While 

 the retailer undoubtedly has his place in 

 the feed business, the opportunity is 

 given by this ruling to force him to give 

 a square deal to the producing dairyman. 

 W. F. Turner, 



.1/. A. C. 



H. E. Haslett, Specialist in Sheep 

 Husbandry, at the Massachusetts Agi-i- 

 cultural College, has arranged to spend 

 two days each month in Hampshire 

 County, answering calls and making 

 farm visits to those farmers who are in- 

 terested in sheep. 



