HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



A. F. MacDousrall, County Agent 

 Helen A. Harrinian, Home I>eni. Asont 

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



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as second class matter Nov. 9. 1S15, at the 

 Post Office at Northampton, Massachusetts, under 

 the Act of March 8. 18T9. 



"Notice of Entry" 



"Acceptance for mailing at special rate of post 

 age provided for in section 1103. Act of October 3, 

 1917. Authorized October .31, 1917." 



Price, 35 cents a year 



Officers of the Trustees 



Leslie R. Smith, President 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Vice-President 

 Warren M. King, Treasurer 

 Charles H. Gould, Secretary 



Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture 



Edwin B. Clapp, Easthanipton 

 Charles E. Clark, Leeds 

 Clarence E. Hodgkins, Northampton 

 William N. Howard, Ware 

 Milton S. Howes, Cummington 

 Mrs. Clifton .Johnson, Hadley 

 Warren M. King, Northampton 

 Leslie E. Smith, Hadley 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 



Scrub Cattle — Scrub Ideals 



The character of a man's cattle re- 

 flects the character of the man himself. 

 Are you keeping a scrub bull? 



Central Warehouse 



Is not the time ripe for the farmers in 

 the towns tributary to Williamsburg to 

 build a ware-house in which to store 

 their farm produce? The difficulty in 

 marketing has always been a big check 

 in the production of crops in these towns. 

 One of the biggest steps to take in meet- 

 ing this problem is to have a central 

 ware-house. The growth of the Wil- 

 liamsburg Fruit Growers' Association 

 which handles a large percent of apples 

 from these hills is seriously handicapped 

 by lack of a permanent sorting and stor- 

 age house. Potatoes to be mai-keted 

 with safety have to be .sold either, in the 

 fall or spring, due to the danger in 

 making long hauls during cold weath- 

 er. Williamsburg, Goshen, Cummington, 

 Plainfield, Chesterfield and part of 

 Worthington are interested. Many of 

 the farmers have thought of a central 

 ware-house, but the thought has never 

 materialized. 



The proposition might well center 

 around the Williamsburg Fruit Growers' 

 Association and have this association act 

 as an exchange for all farm produce. 



CHART 



SHOWING TOWNS CONTRIBUTING TO AND VALUE OF PRODUCE SOLD BY EACH TOWN ON 



THE: 



Northampton Community Market 



The Northampton Community Market from the standpoint of the consumer 



was a success. It was self-supporting and furnished the public fresh produce at 



a reasonable price. The fanners who patronized the market were well sati.sfied. 



However, the above chart tells an interesting story. It shows the tovims which 



furnished produce for the market and the value of the produce each town sold. 



These facts are revealed: 



Total cash sales 



Average daily sales 



Total number teams on market 



Average value of loads 



Number of market days 



Total number farmers on market 



Average sale per farmer 



From the above facts, we may draw these conclusions: 



1. That the market was patronized by the small farmei'. 

 those farmers whose volume of business on the farm is not large, and who have 

 to get part of their income from peddling, buying and selling, etc. 



2. That the market was of value to those who grew just a few more fruits and 

 vegetables than they could use at home, and not enough to bother with in a whole- 

 sale way. 



3. That the market found favor among the larger farmers who had a boy or 

 girl whose labors on the market were of more value than on the farm. 



4. That the market was of no value to the fai'mer who does a large volume of 

 business and whose farm depends upon his managing ability for its success. 



5. That the total sales on the market were not large enough to really consider 

 the Community Market as a great help in solving the marketing problem of the 

 farmers who naturally seek Northampton as a marketing center. It was a help, 

 but made little headway against the real problem. 



$11,491.03 



319.19 



346. 



$33.21 



36. 



57. 



$201.59 



It was of value to 



Not a One Man Job 



While speaking of the Williamsburg 

 Fruit Growers' Association, a little note 

 to its members might not be out of place. 

 For the past year the association has 

 been more "operative" than "cooperat- 

 ive." In other words, the members have 

 depended to a large extent on the manag- 

 er for the success of the association and 

 have not put enough of an effort behind 

 it themselves. Many were careless this 

 past season in the spraying of their 

 trees, others took very little pains in 

 harvesting their crop, in fact, very little 

 progress was made in the production of 

 better fruit. The members during 1919 

 should get behind a pruning and spray- 

 ing campaign and then see to it that 

 their fruit is harvested and delivered to 

 the ware-house in first-class condition. 



Mr. W. L. Machmer, district market 

 agent for the four western counties of 

 Massachusetts for the past year and a 

 half relinquished his duties January 1. 

 Mr. Machmer had his office with the 

 Hampshire County Farm Bureau and be- 

 came well acquainted with a large num- 

 ber of its members. He has been 

 especially valuable to the onion farmers 

 in furnishing crop and market reports 

 and was responsible in no small measure 

 for the success of the Northampton and 

 Holyoke Community Markets. Mr. Mach- 

 mer, personally, will be greatly missed 

 and the county will lo.se a valuable man. 



A grunting pig is more profitable than 

 a squealing one. 



