HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' WORK 



CHARLES H. GOUL», Leader 



McAdoo's Message to Club Members 



"Nations have their childhood and 

 their days of hard lessons just as chil- 

 dren do. One hundred and forty years 

 ago, when the first American Army 

 marched to battle, our Nation was 

 younger among nations than you are 

 among your fathers, your mothers, and 

 their friends. Our Army had drummer 

 boys in those days, real boys of 10 and 

 12, who marched as bravely and as 

 proudly into cannon fire as their great 

 chief. Gen. Washington, himself. Our 

 Nation had little girls, who laughed and 

 cheered and loaded muskets for their 

 fathers, who fired through loopholes in 

 their cabin homes, when the painted In- 

 dians charged to the very doors. 



"Where many schoolhouses stand today 

 American boys and girls may have helped 

 to fight and to defeat the enemy, when 

 our Nation, too, was young. 



"We are in the greatest war of the 

 world's history and we must win this 

 war. We can and we shall win, if the 

 boys and girls of America say so, and 

 mean it, and feel it, and live it, as the 

 boys and girls of '76 lived and felt and 

 helped. 



"The Nation needs that sort of boys 

 and girls to-day. Not to beat our drums, 

 nor to load our muskets, but to start a 

 great work which must be done. It is 

 the part of boys and girls to-day to give 

 an example of self-denial and sacrifice, to 

 teach fathers and mothers, to teach the 

 grown people of the Nation, that we still 

 have in every young heart the spirit of 

 '76, when boys led our soldiers into battle 

 and girls fought beside their fathers at 

 the cabin walls. The lesson is 'Thrift'— 

 saving to the point of sacrifice — self-de- 

 nial of everj^thing unnecessary. If every 

 boy and girl says at home to-night, 'I 

 will fight in this war,' 'I will save every 

 penny and loan it to my Government to 

 help save the lives of the big brothers 

 of America,' 'I will try to teach every 

 American I see to do the same' — then 

 20,000,000 homes, the homes of all Amer- 

 ica, will be filled with the spirit of '76, 

 the spirit of the drummer boys, of the 

 brave girls of those days. America will 

 win again, as it has always won, through 

 the splendid strength, courage, and sacri- 

 fice in the hearts of youth, that to-day 

 will teach the Nation the lesson of saving 

 and serving which it must and will learn, 

 through the message which its school chil- 

 dren will carry home. 



"Through saving your pennies, nickels, 

 dimes, quarters, and buying thrift stamps 

 and then war-savings certificates, you 

 will help your country and its gallant 

 armies to win the war. 



"I know you will help." 



Home Economics Club 



Home Economics clubs have been or- 

 ganized in Amherst, North Amherst, 

 South Amherst, Cummington, Granby, 

 Hadley, Hatfield, Huntington, Northamp- 

 ton, Pelham, Worthington, Williamsburg, 

 and Ware. Local leaders have been 

 secured to assist the members enrolled. 



The response and eagerness of the 

 boys and girls for this work gives 

 promise of some good club work this 

 season. This group of towns embraces 

 19 clubs with an enrolment of 125 rnem- 

 bers to date. The club rules require that 

 members render one report, make an ex- 

 hibit, and complete 60 hours' work in the 

 3 months of the contest. The club mem- 

 bers are about evenly divided in the 

 Bread Making and Garment , Making 

 projects. 



Last year's Home Economics club rec- 

 ord for the county was as follows: 

 Individual clubs 16 



Total members 127 



Banner clubs 1 



Loaves bread made 1-585 

 Garments made 99 



With the clubs under competent leader- 

 ship this year, the county recoid should 

 easily be broken. Complete returns will 

 be given next month. 



County Awards 



The Russellville school of Hadley has 

 again carried off first honors as the best 

 one-room rural school in the State. 



Roger Johnson of Hadley took several 

 first prizes at the recent show of the 

 State Board of Agriculture at Worcester, 

 winning over his grandfather in every 

 class where they competed. 



Nellie Streeter of Cummington was 

 another club exhibitor at the show, dis- 

 playing some high class potatoes. 



Prospective club member: "How long 

 do you have to stay in this club?" 

 Club Leader: "Three months."' 

 Prospective club member: "Well, it 

 says on the card from 10 to 19 years." 



Other state club prizes just announced 

 show that .John Devine, Roger Johnson, 

 Mae Devine, all of Hadley are the State 

 prize winners in the corn club. 



Charles Kokoski of Hadley is winner 

 of the state third prize in the potato club. 



Poultry Clubs 



In the interest of the prospective mem- 

 bers of this spring's poultry club, the 

 County Leader has been before the Am- 

 herst and Northampton Poultry Asso- 

 ciations with the proposition that they 

 furnish settings of eggs to boys and girls 

 at a reasonable cost. Young folks re- 

 ceiving such eggs will be enrolled in the 

 poultry club, and have all the advantages 

 of club members. 



The Northampton Association made 

 this a feature last year with success, and 

 will undoubtedly repeat the program this 

 season. The Amher.st Association has 

 1 agreed to fall in line, and has already 

 furnished a leader for the club work in 

 Amherst. Both poultry contests, the 

 Hatching and Brooding, and the Spring 

 Egg Laying, start March 1st. Last 

 year's Spring Egg Laying contest netted 

 club members an average profit of $1.04 

 per bird. 



Testing Seed Corn 



The present seed corn situation de- 

 mands particular attention from farmers 

 of the State during the coming season. 

 Not only is seed scarce but the necessity 

 for a large crop is urgent, and it is there- 

 fore essential that growers know that 

 their seed is viable and strong before 

 planting time. Prof. Earl Jones of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College gives 



Evelyn Streeter of Cummington won a 

 state third prize in the canning club. 



directions for testing seed corn as fol- 

 lows: 



The Rag Doll tester is the cheapest and 

 most convenient tester for farm use and 

 is as accurate as any. Sheeting of good 

 quality is secured and cut into strips 

 eight to ten inches wide and three to five 

 feet long. Each strip is mai'ked with a 

 heavy pencil lengthwise through the 

 middle and crosswise about every three 

 inches. The squares are numbered in 

 order, length'wise of the sheet. 



In starting the test the cloth is 

 moistened and laid on a table in front 

 of the ears to be tested. Six kernels are 

 I lemoved from ear number one and placed 

 I in square one, etc. When the cloth has 

 j been filled, it is rolled up around an ir- 

 regular shaped piece of wood. As the 

 cloth is moist, the kernels will not push 

 out of place. After rolling, the cloth is 

 tied loosely or fastened with rubber 

 bands, and placed in a bucket of water 

 over night. They are then placed in a 

 box or bucket and covered with a wet 

 cloth to prevent drying. The test will 

 be ready to read in five or six days. 



It is not necessaiy to number the ears, 

 but they should be laid out in the order 

 in which they are placed in the tester 

 and the testers and groups of ears 

 marked. Then the tester can be unrolled 

 in front of the ears and the poor ears 

 discarded without much trouble. It is 

 well to scald the cloths before using them 

 again. 



