HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



PUBLISHED BY THE 



Hampshire County Farm Bureau 



A. F. MacDoiis:ill, County Agent 

 Helen A. Harrinian, Home Deni. Atent 

 C. H. Gouia, Boys' and Girls' Club Leader 



Office First National Bank Building 



Northampton, Mass. 



Entered as second class matter Nov. 9, 1915, at the 

 Post Office at Northampton, Massachusetts, under 

 the Act ot March 8, 1879. 



■■ Notice of Entry " 



"Acceptance for mailing at special rate ot post- 

 age provided tor in section llOa, Act of October 3, 

 1917. Authorized October 31, 1917." 



Price. 25 cents a year 



Officers of tlie 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, Easthampton 

 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 R. Smith, Hadley 

 John A. Sullivan, Northampton 



The Hampshire County Tobacco Grow- 

 ers, Inc., now have approximately 500 

 acres of tobacco under contract by its 

 members to market, cooperately. With 

 the other organizations in Massachusetts 

 and Connecticut, this gives about 6,000 

 acres to be marketed in this way or about 

 one-fourth of all the tobacco grown in 

 the Connecticut Valley. Working under 

 the efficient plans of the organization, 

 this should mean the mo.st advanced .step 

 along any line ever taken by the tobacco 

 growers. 



Marketing cooperatively seems to be 

 the only solution for the farmers in mo.st 

 sections of Hamp.shire County in finding 

 a satisfactory outlet for their farm pro- 

 duce. Individuals or individual com- 

 munities in going to market only compete 

 with each other with the corresponding 

 unsatisfactory results. 



A good example of how it works to the 

 detriment of the farmer was recently 

 shown in the milk market. Community 

 A was selling in Holyoke, Community B 

 was selling in Chicopee. Community A 

 had trouble and changed markets with 

 the result that Community B is now sell- 

 ing cream or making butter. One section 

 may profit temporarily, but in our county 

 the dairy business as a whole is stand- 

 ing still under such a system. Other 

 examples might be used of the system of 

 marketing potatoes, apples, etc. 



The consuming centers should be organ- 

 ized as well as the producers in order that 

 the produce may be sold efficiently. North- 

 ampton has no wholesale house. Retail- 

 ers are buying a great deal of their pro- 

 duce from Holyoke and Spi-ingfield, while 

 the county's produce begs for a market. 

 Why cannot the farmers in the towns 

 tributary to Northampton make an or- 

 ganized effort, possibly through the 

 Northampton Chamber of Commerce, to 

 bring about more satisfactory market 

 conditions that would handle satisfac- 

 torily the produce consumed in our local 

 markets and dispose through the proper 

 channels the surplus produce of the 

 county. 



Don't Tell Anyone We Told 

 You— But: 



Mrs. J. H. Atwood of Westhampton 

 says: "I am very glad that Lila joined 

 your Home Economics Club, as she has 

 gained a strong interest in the work that 

 otherwise she would not have had, and 

 now willingly helps with all patching and 

 mending of the family." 



Mrs. Frank L. Perry of Enfield says 

 that her daughter, since joining the 

 Bread Club, has made two-thirds of the 

 bread in her home. 



Don't miss spraying your fruit trees as 

 soon as the petals drop. No other farm 

 operation will give you more returns for 

 your time and effort. Use 3 lbs. arsenate 

 lead paste (li lbs. powdered lead) and 4 

 quarts of lime-sulphur to 50 gallons of 

 water. 



Seventy-two tons of government ni- 

 trate have been delivered in Hampshire 

 County. 



After this season the farmers will 

 know whether or not it pays to buy cer- 

 tified potato seed stock. Four hundred 

 and seventy-five bushels were sold into 

 thirteen different towns and will be 

 planted in many cases side of ordinary 

 northern grown and native stock. 



Hillside Agricultural Society is offer- 

 ing this year .$75 for special prizes in 

 farm crop production. Field corn, Silage 

 corn, Potatoes, Beans, Soiling Crop, Gar- 

 dens, Wheat, Rye Buckwheat, Oats, and 

 Barley, are the crops listed. All entries 

 have to be with the secretary, H. G. 

 Streeter, Cummington, on or before July 

 1, 1919. Inspection will be made on or 

 about August 15th. Each prize winner 

 must show a specimen of crop at Cum- 

 mington Fair. Contests of this kind give 

 the right kind of encouragement for pro- 

 duction and a large number of farmers 

 should try for the prizes. 



In driving through one section of 

 Westhampton one cannot help but notice 

 the neat appearance of the letter boxes. 

 Almost every box has a bright coat of 

 aluminum paint, and the name of the res- 

 ident is plainly printed on the side. 



Whether these mail boxes happen to be 

 new or whether their clear appearance is 

 the result of some local effort to brighten 

 up, we cannot say. We do feel, that 

 the practice of maintaining neat mail 

 boxes is a good advertisement for the 

 community. They dispel that shiftless, 

 indifferent attitude that characterizes so 

 many R. F. D. routes. They make the 

 passer-by feel as though he would like to 

 meet the man whose name is on the box. 

 They seem to indicate that the owner of 

 the bo.xes are awake and in communica- 

 tion with the rest of the world. A rusty, 

 broken mail box is pretty apt to be the 

 emblem of a Peter Tumbledown. 



Mr. Josiah Parsons, Northampton, has 

 sold thirty bushels of Connecticut Valley 

 jdent seed corn to be used for silage corn 

 I in the hill towns. 



The dairymen of this county who sup- 

 ply Holyoke with milk, together with 

 their dealers, are planning to raise $2,500 

 to contribute to a publicity campaign on 

 the value of milk to be carried on in the 

 cities of Hampden County. The publicity 

 work will be continued for one year and 

 it is planned to raise $12,000 among the 

 six cities and towns. 



Club work engages the best thought, 

 energy, and interest of every boy and 

 girl in the business of farming and home 

 making. Club work is a practical back- 

 to-the-home, "made-in-America" type of 

 education. 



Every farm should have a business 

 office, if it is no more than part of a desk. 

 Here should be kept all records, accounts, 

 orders, and reference books. 



SUMMER SCHOOL AT MASS. 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



"We shall make special piovision in the 

 summer school for young men discharged 

 from naval or military service who wi.sh 

 instruction in agriculture. 



"The school begins June .30th and closes 

 July 26th." 



BE SURE OF MARKET 



PRICE OF WOOL 



A few farmers in the County have sold 

 their wool, some at market price and 

 some from one-half to three-fourths the 

 market price. Those who sold for 70c a 

 pound made a satisfactory sale. Those 

 who still have their clip to .sell had better 

 get in touch with the Franklin County 

 Sheep Breeders' Cooperative As.sociation 

 and market their wool cooperatively. At 

 least, do not hurry to sell your clip with- 

 out first knowing the market price. 



