HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



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FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Vol. IV 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., FEBRUARY, IIHU 



No. 2 



ENFIELD LOCAL DISSOLVES WHY NOT GROW A RICHER SILAGE? 



The Enfield Local of the Federal Land 

 Bank of Springfield voted at the annual 

 meeting, held February 21, to dissolve and 

 the members affiliate themselves with the 

 Northampton Local, thus making one asso- 

 ciation to cover Hampshire County. 



This action should greatly strengthen 

 the work of the bank in the county and 

 make it possible to reach a larger number 

 of farmers. Mr. H. S. Cole of Worthing- 

 ton is secretary and all applications should 

 be forwarded to him. The Farm Bureau 

 ■would be glad to explain the work of the 

 Federal Land Bank to any who are inter- 

 ested. 



Soy Beans and Corn Make Rich and 

 Palatable Feed 



Growing more feed and especially more 

 crops of high feeding value seems, at the 

 present time, essential to the dairy busi- 

 ness in Massschusetts. Because of this, 

 the practice of growing soy beans to sup- 

 plement corn silage to produce a richer 

 silage started in a small way several years 

 ago. 



COUNTY HAS VALUABLE 



JERSEY BULL 



Sire Is Half-Brother to New Champion 

 of the Jersey Breed 



There has recently been brought into 

 Hampshire County a pure bred Jersey bull 

 with a production pedigree back of him 

 that entitles him to the place of herd sire 

 in any high producing herd. This bull is 

 Pogis of Cummington, bought from J. F. 

 Carpenter of Shelburne Falls by W. H. 

 Morey of Cummington to head his regis- 

 tered Jersey herd. The sire of this young 

 bull is Hillside Torono, the bull selected by 

 the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture to head its experimental breeding herd 

 after a rather extensive search among the 

 tested sires of the breed throughout the 

 country. Hillside Torono is sired by Pogis 

 99 of Hood Farm, one of the leading 

 sires of the breed and sire of fifty-four 

 Register of Merit daughters, including 

 Sophie's Agnes, the new Jersey cham- 

 pion with a year's record of 16,212 [ 

 pounds of milk and 1000.7 pounds of 

 butter fat. The dam of Hillside Torono 

 is Lass 57th of Hood Farm with an official 

 record of 9844 pounds of milk and 547 

 pounds of butter fat as a two-year-old, 

 and a daughter of Hood Farm Torono, the 

 sire of more than seventy-five Register of 

 Merit cows. Thus, in Hillside Torono, two 

 of the high producing lines of Hood Farm 

 breeding are combined. 



That the combintion brings results is 

 shown by the records of cows of similar 

 breeding in the Hood Farm herd, a 

 full sister of Hillside Torono, Sophie's 

 Dolly Dimple, having made a record 

 Continued on page tj 1 



Soy Beans and Corn 



FARM OF CHARLES W. BERRY, PrESCOTT. 



Demonstrations in Hampshire Coun- 

 ty. —In the spring of 1918 twelve to fifteen 

 soy bean and silage corn demonstrations 

 were started in Hampshire County. In 

 all cases but one the soy beans were grown 

 with the silage corn. These fields were 

 visited early in September and it was 

 found that the soy beans had made a good 

 growth in every case, where the weeds 

 had been kept out of the corn. In a few 

 cases there was a thin stand of beans but 

 a good growth. In one wet field the beans 

 looked good while the corn did not come 

 Concluded on page 7 



AGED FARMER GROWS 



PRIZE ALFALFA 



James Comins of North Hadley wins 

 Prize 



One hundred and fifty dollars is a pretty 

 good amount to receive in prize money 

 for growing an acre of alfalfa. But this 

 is the amount offered as second prize in 

 the Alfalfa Contest by the Mass. Society 

 for Promoting Agriculture, and has just 

 been won by a farmer 91 years old whose 

 farm is located in North Hadley. 



Mr. James Comins, winner of the prize, 

 could have been seen last summer driving 

 the mowing machine over his acre of al- 

 falfa and doing most of the work in har- 

 vesting the crop. 



The alfalfa was grown on land bordering 

 the Connecticut River and gave a yield for 

 the two years, called for by the contest, 

 of 11.5 tons. 



The crop was seeded in corn the middle 

 of July, 1916; the cost of labor and fer- 

 tilizer was $38.50 ; seed and inoculation, 

 $15.25 ; harvesting, $22.40 ; making a total 

 cost of $76.15, or an approximate cost of 

 $7.00 per ton. 



Dairymen who are looking for ways in 

 which to cut down the cost of producing 

 milk might well profit by the experience 

 of Mr. Comins. 



POOR FARM PRACTICE 



To Put Manure in Small Piles 



We have noticed recently through the 

 county a few farmers who have put ma- 

 nure in small piles in the field. We can 

 see no good reason for doing this and sev- 

 eral reasons for not doing it. 



The two big objections, as we look at 

 the question, are the extra labor and time 

 required to scatter the manure later and 

 the irregular fertilization of the field be- 

 cause of the leaching from the small piles. 



We would not hesitate to spread manure 

 in winter except on steep hillsides and 

 deep snows. Where it cannot be spread 

 when hauled, we would put it in tall, com- 

 pact piles, putting some straw or old hay 

 under the pile to catch the leachings. We 

 also believe that time spent in drawing 

 manure now is well worth while to save 

 time next spring. 



Connecticut Valley Dent Corn makes ex- 

 cellent silage on hill town farnps. Why 

 not try some this year ? 



