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SEP 2 7 1919 



HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



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FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Vol. IV 



NORTHAMPTON, MASS., SEPTEMBER. 1919 



No. 9 



TOBACCO GROWERS COMPLETE 



ORGANIZATION 



Association Votes to Hire .Vlanager 



The director.? of the Connecticut Valley 

 Tobacco Grower.?, Incorporated, at their 

 September meeting, voted to open an 

 office and .sample room in Hartfoid and 

 engage a manager. This will give them 

 an opportunity to dispose of about 2000 

 case.s af 1918 tobacco and be in readiness 

 for the 1919 crop. 



This action of the directoi's completes 

 the organization of the marketing sys- 

 tem. The local associations, such as the 

 Hampshire County Tobacco Growers, 

 Inc., sorts and grades the farmers' crop 

 and prepares it for market. The parent 

 organization in Hartford, through its 

 board of directors, containing two repre- 

 sentatives from each local, and its mana- 

 ger, will market all the tobacco of the 

 several locals. 



Representing several thousand acres 

 of 1919 tobacco, both in Connecticut and 

 Massachusetts, and having the support 

 of sevei-al hundred tobacco growers, the 

 Connecticut Valley Growers, Incorpora- 

 ted, ought to become a real factor in the 

 tobacco trade. The tobacco crop has too 

 long been handled in a speculative way 

 and the development of this system, 

 managed by the tobacco growers them- 

 selves, should do much toward stabalizing 

 the industry. 



ALL OUT FOR THE COUNTY FAIR 



October 1, 2, 3 



The directors of the Northampton 

 Fair are planning this year to have the 

 best and largest agricultural display and 

 exhibition of live-stock ever seen at our 

 County Fair. In order to do this, it 

 means everybody in the county giving 

 their best support. Bring the best you 

 have on your farm and in your home ancf 

 see how your results compare with those 

 exhibited by people from neighboring 

 towns or counties. 



The Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 

 lege is planning to make an exhibit cover- 

 ing one-half the space in the Merchants 

 Building, The Boys' and Girls' Building, 

 the best in New England, will be filled 

 to overflowing, besides all this, you can 

 have a good time at the races, watching 

 the vaudeville stunts or looking over the 

 mid-way. 



CROP REPORT IS VERY FAVORABLE 



Good Potato Crop In Aroo.stook 

 Maine Potatoes improved slightly, de- 

 spite August drought in the central coun- 

 ties says V. A. Sanders, Field Agent, in 

 his crop report Sept 8. There has been 

 lack of rain and some fertilizer injury in 

 Aroostook, but the county is living up to 

 its long record of producing a good crop. 

 Forecast for Maine is now 20,614,000 

 bushels compared with 19,966,000 last 

 month and 22,400,000 last year. Fore- 

 cast for the U. S. is now .349,000,000 com.- 

 pared with 357,120,000 last month and 

 400,106,000 last year. Late in August, 

 blight, with considerable rot, spread over 

 southern New England, but too late to do 

 much damage. 



NEW ENGLAND COMMERCIAL APPLE 

 CROP .55% MORE THAN IN 1918 



The forecast for New England com- 

 mercial apples is now 1,.365,000 barrels 

 compared with 881,000 last year — a 559r 

 increase: for the U. S.— 23,072,000 com- 

 pared with 24,740,000 last year. Maine 

 and Vermont show big gains and only 

 Massachusetts runs below last year. In 

 commercial orchards the fruit is normal 

 in size, quality and color; and recent 

 rains should benefit the crop. Farm 

 size and quality; much of it is wormy 

 and has considerable black rot and scab. 

 Most reports show a heavy crop of Spys ; 

 but the other main varieties run light in 

 some sections, tho heavier elsewhere, no 

 one of them being a heavy crop. The 

 number of bearing trees is certainly less 

 Cnncluded on page 6 



NEW PROJECTS APPROVED 



Your Home Demonstration Agent 

 plans to emphasize this next year the 

 following projects, all of which have been 

 recommended by various towns in the 

 County. 



1. Clothing Efficiency: Making of 

 patterns and garments with small ex- 

 penditures of time, strength and money. 



2. Household Management: Organi- 

 zation of the housework, Increased home 

 conveniences. Household accounting. 



3. Health Preservation: Child Wel- 

 fare as started by the Children's Bureau, 

 Washington, Home Nursing. 



What are you planning for your com- 

 munity this fall? Remember the Farm 

 Bureau Agents are YOUR agents. 



A PROFITABLE FARM 



Peter Hanifin's of Belchertown is a Qood 

 Example 



From time to time articles will be 

 printed in the Farm Bureau Monthly 

 telling the story of how some of our best 

 farmers have organized, and developed 

 their farms. 



Mr. Hanifin came to Belchertown in 

 1885 when he was 23 years old and hired 

 out to a farmer at $5 a month and board. 

 Times were dull then and farm wages 

 were low. After seven years as a hired 

 man, he purchased a fifty acre farm, 

 followed three years later by an adjoin- 

 ing farm of twenty acres and in 1902 

 by a second adjoining farm of 115 acres. 



The latter fai-m is now the base of op- 

 erations, the other two oeing used largely 

 for pasture of dry stock and hay land. 



The Farm: It consist of 152 acres 

 about 60 of which are tillable, 30 acres 

 of woodland and about 62 acres of past- 

 ure and brush land. It is a typical farm 

 of the tyjie which returns good profits 

 to its owaier. The fields have been drain- 

 ed and stone walls removed and they are 

 now in position to produce large crops. 



The Crops : The acreages of crops for 

 last year and this year are given below. — 



Total acres crops 68* 68J 



Of the above crops — the young orchard 

 was double cropped with field com and 

 the bearing apples are scattered over the 

 farm. Sufficient field corn is raised to 

 provide a considerable amount of feed 

 for his stock. Other stock feeds raised 

 are the silage and hay. 



His cash crops consist of potatoes and 

 cabbage both crops being marketed by 

 auto truck to towns and cities within 15 

 miles radius. 



Stock: The Stock consists of 26 grade 

 Holsteins, large cows and heavy milkers, 

 11 grade Holstein heifers and a pure bred 

 Concluded on page 7 



