HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



V( 



IV. 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., JLLV, Jltll) 



No. 



CO-OPERATIVE SEWING CIRCLE 



HAS POSSIBILITIES 



Does Your Community Have This Spirit? 



A few months ago one community, 

 some little distance from the center of 

 town, organized to do Red Cross work. 

 Before this time they were barely ac- 

 cjuainted. The women met regularly 

 once a week to do the sewing and in this 

 way grew to know each other better. 

 The men were brought in by having a 

 "gentleman's night," one every few weeks 

 and from this, the birthdays of the group 

 were celebrated each month. 



After the needs of Red Cross became 

 less urgent, the groups still continued its 

 meetings at the different houses and the 

 work consisted of doing the mending and 

 sewing for the woman at whose house 

 they met. One woman reports they 

 "sewed up 60 yards of toweling;" an- 

 other, that "the mending and patching 

 of the past few months was accomplished 

 by them," another that "the women sewed 

 up all her grain bags into towels." 



By selling their rags, and rubbers, they 

 acquired enough money to buy an elec- 

 tric sewing machine and another electric 

 motor, so that the sewing could be done 

 more quickly. 



Determining to find out what the Home 

 Demonstration could do for them, a group 

 of 12 women met at one home and made 

 tireless cookers. They then made plans 

 . for a series of Clothing Efficiency meet- 

 ings to learn all the short cuts in making 

 garments. Their next plan is to take 

 the equipment and meet from hou.se to 

 house and "sew the woman up" for at 

 least a season. The fact that she has a 

 set of foundation patterns makes the 

 work extremely simple. This is an in- 

 stance of perfect co-operation and ex- 

 cellent spirit. 



FEEDER CATTLE IN THE 

 TOBACCO DISTRICT OF 



LANCASTER CO., PA. 



The Market News Report given below 

 on the condition of the Lancaster Penn- 

 sylvania Stock Yard Market will be of 

 interest to many of the tobacco growers 

 in this district. The question whether 

 their conditions are enough like ours so 

 as to warrant an experiment in this dis- 

 trict with feeder cattle is still debata- 

 ble, but at least the matter calls for 

 some thought. The system reduces to 

 some extent, the risk of "one crop" 

 farming and tends to stabalize the in- 

 dustry. 



Concluded on page 7 



ONION MARKET REPORTS 



AVAILABLE 



Every onion grower should be receiving 

 the daily market report, published by 

 the Bureau of Markets. If your name 

 is not on the list, make a point to send 

 it in at once to the Farm Bureau office. 

 Follow the early market and keep in 

 touch with crop and market conditions. 

 It will mean dollars to you when the 

 time comes to sell your own crop. : 



CAN YOU TELL THE POOR 

 LAYERS FROM THE GOOD ONES? 



High feed costs increase the need of 

 efficiency in poultry keeping. Hens evi- 

 dence wide variations in respect to rate 

 of production and the periods over which 

 it is distributed. Obviously, the higher 

 the rate and the longer the laying period, 

 the more eggs are laid. Many hens — 

 the poorer hii/ers — stop laying early in 

 summer. These are the birds to cull out 

 and market in order that feed may be 

 conserved and the remainder of the flock 

 may have more favorable environment. 

 Other hen.s — the better lajiers — continue 

 to lay late into the fall. These are the 

 more profitable birds ; they complete the 

 moult more promptly and, if held over 

 for a second laying season, come back 

 into production earlier in the spring. It 

 is from these that breeders should be 

 selected. Systematic culling may pro- 

 fitably be applied from month to month 

 thru the fall eliminating those birds 

 which fail to pay their board bill. 



The trapnest is the only accurate 

 measure of egg production. Yet, obser- 

 vation of trapnested flocks, and subse- 

 quent tests of the inferences drawn, prove 

 that there are certain physical evidences 

 of high or low production which indicate, 

 to a fair degree of accuracy, laying con- 

 dition. Indeed, it would be strange if a 

 bird laying eggs totalling many times 

 her own body weight were not in some 

 manner branded by such strenuous phys- 

 ical and chemical activity. 



Concluded on page t> 



BRIGHT SPOT IN THE FUTURE 



Fall Fertilizer Prices Should be Thirty 

 Per Cent Lower 



As the result of the Department of 

 Agriculture's conferences and communi- 

 cations with individual manufactures of 

 fertilizers, without the department hav- 

 ing fixed any prices, it is now in a posi- 

 tion to announce that the farmers of the 

 country should obtain their mixed ferti- 

 lizers for the fall season of 1919 at an 

 average price of about 30 per cent lower 

 than the prices which prevail for the 

 spring sea.son just passed. 



The different companies in some in- 

 stances will put out goods at slightly 

 varying figures, but the attached table 

 shows maximum f. o. b. prices at which 

 the principal fertilizer grades at the 

 three great centers for fertilizer distribu- 

 tion, Baltimore, Md., Philadelphia, Pa., 

 and Carteret, N. J., to dealers and to 

 farmers ordering 30 ton lots may be ob- 

 tained. 



These prices are to dealers and to far- 

 mers ordering 30 ton lots and are ba.sed 

 upon delivery in 167 pound bags. If in 

 200 pound bags 2.5 cents per ton should 

 be deducted; in 12-5 pound bags 2-5 cents 

 per ton and in 100 pound bags .50 cents 

 per ton should be added. These prices 



Concluded on page .5 



M. A. C. APPEALS TO FARMERS 



The Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 

 lege will hold its first annual Summer 

 Farmers' Week July 28-August 2. Here- 

 i tofore, "Farmers' Week" has been held 

 in March on the theory that farmers 

 could better come at that time, and could 

 not leave their business during the busy 

 sea.son in the summer. This, therefore, 

 is for us an experiment, but one in which 

 we have much faith and confidence. A 

 I day or two at the college with friends 

 and experts along your own special lines 

 will not only afford fellowship, rest and 

 relief from the strain of the summer's 

 work, but al.so, we believe, a great deal 

 of helpful information and inspiration. 



There will be something for everybody ; 

 farmers, wives and children. We are 

 glad to report that the following organ- 

 izations have agreed to have Field Days 

 at the college during that week: 



Massachusetts State Grange, -July 29th. 

 Concluded on page 7 



