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HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



olieg. 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Vol. IV. 



NUKTHA.MrioN, MASS., JLLNE, 1919 



No. 



SHOULD PASTURES BE FERTILIZED? EARLY CULTIVATION IS 



GET OUT THE 



County Demonstration Will Answer 

 Question 



With the deterioration of a large per 

 cent of the pasture land into an almost 

 unprofitable state, many farmers are ask- 

 ing, "what can be done?" 



To help solve thi.s problem, the follow- 

 ing men are trying thi.s year to find out 

 the value of top-dressing pastures with 

 lime, acid phosphate and wood ashes: 

 Geo. Timmins, Ware; M. D. Griffin, 

 Ware ; Leon Thayer, Cummington ; Se- 

 reno Clark, Williamsburg. The demon- 

 strations are so arranged that the value 

 of the fertilizer alone or in combination 

 will be known. The cost is approximately 

 $6.75 and it is thought that the fertilizer 

 should be applied every four years. This 

 makes a cost of $1.7.5 per acre per year. 

 This expense has been justified in other 

 sections and the results will soon be 

 known for this section. 



As one man has said, "We have been 

 in the habit of taking our native pas- 

 tures for granted, as we do the air and 

 the sunshine." The wonder is that the 

 pastures are as good as they are under 

 such a system and the time is now here 

 when they should receive some attention. 



MAPLE TREES SURVIVE 



ATTACK BY WORMS 



This Season's Results Unknown 



Will the maples stand another attack 

 of the "maple prominent" caterpillar, is 

 a question asked by many owners of a 

 sugar bush or a maple wood in those sec- 

 tions in the western part of the county 

 devastated by this caterpillar for the past 

 two years. 



Some of the very young trees or old 

 trees weakened from other causes have 

 already succumbed to the pest. But most 

 of the strong vigorous maples are still 

 quite healthy and without another too se- 

 vere an attack, should be in condition to 

 come back and give full crops of maple 

 syrup in a year or two. 



The whole question is, will the work 

 of the last two seasons be repeated? Last 

 year where the caterpillars were present, 

 parasites were also present in large 

 numbers. If the parasites have gained 

 in sufficient strength they may be able 

 Concluded on page -5 



ECONOMICAL CULTIVATION 



In order to compete with farmers of 

 other parts of the country in growing 

 staple crops like corn and potatoes, Mass- 

 achusetts farmers, must, as far as possi- 

 ble, meet competition in regard to the 

 cost of production. This means the prac- 

 tice of all the economies consistent with 

 good yields, and cannot be neglected. 



The early cultivation of corn and po- 

 tatoes with a spike tooth or smoothing 

 harrow, or a weeder is one economy of 

 labor we cannot afford to neglect. Where 

 the land is in good condition small weeds 

 are easily killed and a considerable acre- 

 age can be covered in one day. 



The harrow or weeder can be used 

 once or twice before the crop comes 

 through the ground and for the first cul- 

 tivation after the crop has started 

 growth. Where the land is trashy the 

 weeder is better than the harrow as there 

 is less tendency to cover the young corn 

 or pull it out. 



These tools are of little value where 

 the soil is compact and where witch grass 

 and other weeds have gotten a start. 



BORDEAUX SPRAYS 



Watch the Analysis of Copper 



Spraying with bordeaux is an estab- 

 lished practice with nearly every farmer 

 growing potatoes. He has seen the value 

 in increased yields even in years when 

 blight was not present. Many are using 

 home-made bordeaux for the reason that 

 it is cheaper and fully as effective. 

 Others u.se the commercial sprays be- 

 cause of its convenience, especially on 

 small acreages. 



It has been found by the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station that for 

 Massachusetts conditions a 4-4-.50 Bor- 

 deaux is the right strength for a bor- 

 deaux spray to control potato blight. 

 This means 4 lbs. lime, 4 lbs. copper sul- 

 phate to 50 gallons water. In purchas- 

 ing a commercial bordeaux spray we 

 should be sure that the copper content is 

 large enough to equal a spray of this 

 strength. If, for example, by following 

 the direction of the manufacturer, a 

 fungicide contains so little copper that it 

 produces a weak Bordeaux of say 1-1-50 



Continued on page h 



MOWING MACHINE ON TIME 



Early Cut Hay Makes Richer Feed 



One problem of the dairy farms is to 

 improve the quality of the roughage pro- 

 duced on the farm. Growing legume 

 hays will do this but farmers who have 

 only grass hay can get a better quality 

 by harvesting earlier than usual. 



The advantages of early cutting of hay 

 are as follows: 



1. Early cut grass is more nutritious 

 than that cut later, because it contains 

 more digestible protein and more digesti- 

 ble nutrients per ton. Timothy cut in 

 full bloom contains 1.3 per cent more di- 

 gestible protein than timothy nearly ripe. 

 Timothy is richest in protein when cut 

 at the beginning of bloom and the same is 

 true of other grasses. 



2. The digestibility of the grasses de- 

 creases as they mature, as does also their 

 palability for young stock and dairy 

 cows. 



.3. The rowen crop is greater where 

 the first crop is cut early. In feeding 

 value, rowen compares very favorably 

 with clover. 



There is another side to this question. 



1. Early cut hay is more difficult to 

 cure than that cut later. 



2. The yield from early cut hay is not 

 as large as from late cut hay. However, 

 with early cut hay, the rowen crop will 

 be surer and larger. 



3. Cutting hay early interferes with 

 corn cultivation and this is a serious ob- 

 jection. Some work the previous year 

 towards eradicating witch grass, the use 

 of the harrow and weeder in cultivating 

 corn and a fitting in of the one or two 

 practices together will help solve this 

 problem. In this connection it should be 

 remembered that corn large enough to 

 shade the ground does not need cultiva- 

 tion except for killing weeds. 



There are farmers who have practiced 

 early cutting of hay for some years with 

 satisfactory results. There is no ques- 

 tion about the superiority of early cut 

 hay for feeding dairy cows and young 

 stock, although for feeding horses and for 

 market, later cut hay, not too ripe is 

 good. Can the work on the farm be ar- 

 ranged so that there will be more of this 

 good quality roughage available for the 

 cows next winter? Earl Jones — .1/. A. C. 



