HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' WORK 



CHARLES H. 001;LI>, Leader 



The Boys' and Qirls' Gardens 



There are very few boys and girls 

 who are at present satisfied with their 

 gardens. Some have given them up as 

 a bad job, and others are frankly dis- 

 appointed. Few have as yet acquired 

 the philosophy which a farmer must have 

 if he is to suffer the ravages of nature 

 and keep his courage. The phoma has 

 ruined some of the potato patches ; the 

 drought has caused death in many of the 

 more sandy spots; the lice have wiped 

 turnip rows out of existence; the borers 

 are doing a hidden damage among the 

 vines; and many other established pests 

 have had their way. Hardly a eonscien- 

 ous gardener but has had his tale of woe 

 for the supervisor upon his August call. 



And yet the gardens are really quite 

 satisfactory, and the supervisor's princi- 

 pal business has been to point out their 

 merits and cheer up the down-hearted 

 owners. The beans have yielded abun- 

 dantly, the root crops are mostly highly 

 promising, tomatoes and corn are most 

 productive. The children are really get- 

 ting a great deal of food-stuff out of 

 their gardens, and there is no doubt but 

 that they have contributed considerable 

 service along the lines of production. 

 It is true that in two or three of the 

 towns the project has not been gi'atify- 

 ing, but there the trouble traces back 

 to the planning days, and the solution 

 is largely in more and better propaganda 

 and education. The best gardens we 

 have seen are in Easthampton where the 

 woik has been organized for the longest 

 time. 



It is hard to persuade the children 

 that their work is not wholly done. They 

 fail to realize that the growing season 

 for some of their crops is not yet over 

 and that cultivation is still to be desired. 

 They also fail to realize that there is 

 any object in keeping clean of weeds 

 that part of the garden which they have 

 harvested. Some of them are planning 

 to save seeds for another year however. 

 Altogether the report upon the gardens 

 is favorable. 



The Massachusetts Society for the 

 Promotion of Agriculture has competi- 

 tors in its corn contest. The following 

 Hampshire County men feel confident of 

 gathering in some of the prize money: 

 Roger Johnson, Hadley 

 Ernest Russell, Hadley 

 .James Loud, Williamsburg 

 -James Comins, North Hadley. 



Seven million children of the country 

 receive their "education" in the one- 

 teacher, one-room school house. Nearly 

 90 per cent of them never attend any 

 other school. 



My "Bit" in the Canning Work 



By Evelyn Streeter 



For the past two years my sister has 

 taken third prizes in the state canning 

 club. She has gone away to school this 

 year so it seems to be left to me to do 

 the canning. 



In the spring I began canning dande- 

 lion and milkweed greens as soon as they 

 were big enough to can. I cut up the 

 tender milkweed stalks and canned them 

 as a substitute for asparagus. 



The strawberries were very late and 

 we did not have as many as usual but 

 I put up thirteen pints. At first I put 

 them in the cans, poured on the syrup 

 and boiled, and had a hard time keeping 

 them all through the can. Most of the 

 berries went to the top but the wild 

 ones stayed at the bottom better than the 



; garden berries. Then I used Miss Sayles' 

 rule which is found in the Extension 

 Circular No. 38. I cooked them very 

 gently for fifteen minutes and let them 

 stand covered over night in a cool place. 

 I put them in the cans and cooked them 

 for five minutes. In this way veiy few 

 came to the top. 



We have no blueberries at home, but 

 go to my grandmothers for them. When 

 we go blueberrying we make a sort of 

 picnic of it and get a bushel or more at 

 a time and that means business the next 

 day. Black berries too come from a hill 

 pasture so far away that we go for a 

 half day and get a lot of them. 



The pears like the strawberries were 

 late and came after school began. There 



j were a great many of them so I canned 

 them nights after school. Mother and 

 her helper had them pared when I came. 

 Then such a time as I had packing each 

 can as full as possible. Some of them 

 I flavored with lemon juice, one lemon 

 to two quarts of pears. Sour apple juice 

 is just as good for flavoring. Prepare 

 the juice as if for jelly and use half 

 a cup with a heavy syrup for one quart 

 of pears. 



We worked long and faithfully with 

 tomatoes. I canned some whole and some 

 sliced. I wish some one would tell me 

 how to keep the juice of the whole toma- 

 toes clear. Even that which is strained 

 through double cheese cloth and cooled 

 over night has some sediment. 



At the Cummington fair the classes 



* are collections of berries, fruits and 

 vegetables. I showed berries in pints, 

 fruit and vegetables in quart cans, forty 

 jars in all and after the judging I found 

 three blue cards on my exhibit. At 

 Northampton I showed peaches and a 

 collection of four vai-ieties and was given 

 first prize on both. I have in all canned 

 four hundred eighty quarts. 



Home Hconomics Club Prizes 



I 



1 Pins for the Home Economics Club 



members have arrived from the Mass. 



Agricultural College and sent to the 



eighty-five children in the County who 



completed all requirements. 



The Plainfield Club of five girls met 

 at the leader's home, recently, and were 

 taught by Mrs. Ladd how to make cottage 

 cheese. The next morning, as Mrs. Ladd 

 was leaving town at 7 o'clock, one little 

 girl came running out from one of the 

 farm houses with a sample of her own 

 cheese which Mrs. Ladd pronounced ex- 

 cellent. 



Miss Banks, assistant club leader, 

 spent the week, .Juy 8-1.3, in the County, 

 visiting Junior Clubs in Haydenville, 

 Hatfield, Easthampton, South Hadley, 

 Hadley, North Hadley, Belchertown, 

 Northampton, Pelham, Huntington. The 

 Home Demonstration Agent has met all 

 the other clubs, so that at present Can- 

 ning Club members .should be as busy 

 as bees preserving fruits and vegetables, 

 for Uncle Sam. The Club work closes* 

 October 15th and the stories are due 

 November 1st. We are hoping that the 

 boys and girls will can till the end, and 

 j put Hampshire County among the first 

 in Junior work. 



Community gardens in Ware are in 

 excellent condition. About 26 acres 

 planted mostly to potatoes, beans and 

 cabbage, have been under the direction 

 of Supervisor Mallorey, and the project 

 shows the results of proper supervision. 



Hampshire County Represented 



Hampshire County was represented by 

 three club members at the annual Prize 

 Winner's Camp at the Agricultural 

 College last month. Mae Devine of 

 Hadley, Evelyn Streeter of Cummington 

 and Charles Kokoski of Hadley, third 

 prizes winners in the 1917 Corn, Can- 

 ning and Potato clubs spent the week at 

 Amherst. Evelyn Streeter's canning 

 club story, which was a factor in her 

 winning third prize is published here- 

 with. 



Club work opens up visions of other 

 things, other places, other people. This 

 advantage was applied to about 40 club 

 members from Williamsburg, Goshen, 

 Hatfield, Westhampton, Belchertown, and 

 Greenwich. A club from each town was 

 taken by the County Leader to the Camp 

 at Amherst for a day's outing. The 

 Hatfield pig club made itself conspicuous 

 by participating in the motion picture 

 film which Mr. Rice, State Pig Club 

 Leader, is having made, to illustrate pig 

 club work in the State. 



