S46 
tinuing to watch the results of his plan. Being like 
everyone else in those war days, very short-handed, 
and feeling that he must get those three acres out 
with his digger, his next problem was the rush of 
chickweed that started up like lightning after the 
rain. The potato tops lifted from a clean field, the 
weeds would take possession en masse in a few 
days. There was no time to dig, so he put in teams 
and re-ridged those potatoes—at least he lightly 
ridged the rows where his potatoes once were—just 
enough to destroy the new weed crop. And not only 
so, having determined by repeated investigation that 
his tubers were still sound and making skin well, he 
later ridged the second time for the same purpose; 
not much, but enough to keep every young weed 
under, and finally a part he so treated the third 
time, till all were dug. 
PERFECT RESULTS.—The plan worked per¬ 
fectly. lie had a clean field for his digger when at 
last he found time to harvest. Not one weed, and 
better than all else, hardly one rotted or decaying 
tuber. So perfect was the job and so easy that with 
but one man and one team (with a gang of four 
women picking up) they averaged to dig, bag and 
cart, in about one acre per day—2N-1 bushels in one 
day! Ere the team, unhitched from the digger for 
this purpose, could pick up its two loads of sacked 
potatoes and deliver them into the packing shed, 
those women would be shouting for more to be dug. 
Of course prices had sagged a good deal iii the three 
or four weeks of waiting, but his crop was so clean 
and ripe—so free from any taint, of suspicion—that 
it brought top places, nearly $1,000 worth from those 
three acres that his neighbors had looked upon as 
beaded, like most of theirs, for a total loss. 
Hampden Co.. Mass. david stone kelsey. 
Commencement and Semi-Centennial oi 
Massachusetts Agricultural College 
Part III. 
THE COLLEGE SOLID WITH THE FARMERS. 
—The farmers of the old “Bay .State” are now in 
full sympathy and accord with the college. Her 
student body has more than doubled in the past 10 
years. The support given by the State has increased 
more than fourfold during this same period. Twenty- 
eight per cent of her graduates are farm operators, 
while others are teachers of agriculture and investi¬ 
gators of farm problems within the State. It may 
safely be said that she is influencing production up¬ 
wards, so that Massachusetts farms are making 
larger profits than 20 years ago. In some sections 
of the State the soil may be temporarily exhausted, 
but on the better farming lands increased returns 
may be noted. 
STUDYING THE FARMS.—One Farm Bureau, 
that of Franklin County, has recently made a study 
of 20 farms in order to learn the attitude of the 
farmers toward agricultural progress, and to what 
extent the young people are engaged in farming, 
and incidentally to what degree the work of the col¬ 
lege is directly reaching the men <»n the land. A 
study of data obtained from these 20 farms showed 
a marked increase in production, in some cases more 
than three-fold, during the past two decades. < >ne 
hundred per cent of these farms have a son of the 
owner as manager or associated with the father as 
manager, four of these being graduates of the col¬ 
lege. In one township the Farm Bureau manager 
listed 15 graduates back on the farm, and further 
found that the total value of the agricultural prod¬ 
ucts was as great as that of any like area in the 
country. A questionnaire sent to the farmers on 
these 20 farms brought forth the following facts: 
Seventy per cent reported their farms paid a profit 
in 1020. They believe Massachusetts agriculture to 
be more prosperous today, more improved machinery 
is being used, better stock kept, better land treat¬ 
ment practiced, better business methods followed, 
better organization practiced, and that the farmers 
are more wideawake and better educated than 20 
years ago. They stated that they hoped to improve 
farming conditions by keeping stock capable of 
higher production, by better rotation, by increasing 
crop acreage, by better farm management, more cash 
crops, more orcharding, more lime and clover, more 
cover crops and greater labor efficiency. 
LEADING PROBLEMS.—Some of their greatest 
problems were stated to be land fertility, financial 
credit, run-out pastures, farm management, market¬ 
ing methods, unequal labor competition of the indus¬ 
tries. lack of co-operation and community spirit, poor 
schools, need of Americanizing foreigners, lack of 
medical attendance, lack of time for study, isolation 
and selfishness. They recommend meeting these 
problems through co-operation, community meetings, 
by interesting foreigners in town and social affairs, 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
by securing better school facilities, and by getting in 
touch with the college and its extension service. 
J. II. Putnam, who was responsible for securing this 
data, concluded his commencement address by say¬ 
ing that the mere fact that the study of agriculture 
was considered of enough importance to justify the 
establishment of the college had added dignity to the 
calling and helped the farmer to have faith in Him¬ 
self and his business. He said further that “Massa- 
Gharacteriatie Collarette Dahlia. Fiy. 390 
chusetls has the advantage of favorable location, for 
her markets are at her doors. However, every other 
branch of industry, of science and of art, is advanc¬ 
ing with unparalleled strides. If Massachusetts ag¬ 
riculture is to keep pace with other industries it 
cannot rest upon laurels won. We must give our 
children better advantages than we enjoy, or they 
cannot maintain the relative position in the nation's 
progress that has always been filled by the sons of 
the commonwealth.” 
THE FUTURE OF THE GO],LEGE.—Massachu¬ 
setts is, and without doubt always will be, primarily 
an industrial State, but the success of her industries 
will depend in a marked degree on her ability to get 
Daddy'S helper. Fiy. 391 
ample and suitable food from near-by sources, and 
at Hie* same time at a moderate eost. The future 
work of the college will be the broad one of food 
supply for her people. This means that in all her 
work she must stress not alone increased production, 
but with equal force distribution, conservation and 
the use of food. Her investigational work must he 
extended so as to include problems in all of these 
lines. ll< )• field of extension work must be expanded 
so as to reaeh and include the users of food in the 
cities. Her graduates will, in the main, continue to 
be engaged in commercial farming or as teachers 
and investigators of agricultural problems. From 
the start the college has been fortunate in being per¬ 
mitted to direct its woxk in the one channel of agri- 
July 25, 1021 
culture. In this field she has gained a high position. 
By the systematic concentration of effort in the new 
and broadened field of agriculture, that of food sup¬ 
ply for her industrial workers ot the State, she will 
be more than ever the “people’s college.” 
CHARLES S. PHELPS. 
Daddy’s Helper 
HE man who sends ns the little picture shown 
at Fig. 591 says it is “a snapshot of a hen¬ 
pecked husband cultivating garden and playing 
nursegirl at the same time.” Surely the little pas¬ 
senger on the wheel hoe adds the live weight needed 
to hold the teeth into the ground and thus do a full 
job, and it keeps the kid quiet and contented. It 
would seem to beat a baby carriage for efficiency, 
and “daddy’s helper” is a great institution. 
Cost of Keeping 100 Cows 
Very roughly speaking, what would be tho estimated 
cost of maintaining 300 cows a year, assuming feed can 
be bought at the present prices? These figures should 
also include the growing of fodder and necessary grains 
on the farm ; in fact, the entire expense, providing suit¬ 
able milkings, etc. F A w 
Newark, N. .7. 
IIE cost of producing milk is a much debated and 
marked question. It is doubtful if costs are 
identical on any two farms, owing to the fact that 
there are so many factors that govern the distribu¬ 
tion of costs. On one farm all of the labor is done 
by the owner and the members of his family; on 
another by hired help: on still another dairying is 
incidental to farm operations, while in another in¬ 
stance all farm operations center around the dairy 
herd. Not only must we consider the efficiency of 
the man, but there is a vast difference in the ability 
of cows to produce milk economically. One dairy 
farmer operates on higli-prieed land, utilizes mod¬ 
ern barns and up-to-date equipment, healthy cows 
in sanitary surroundings; another may be located in 
a district where land is cheap and get along with old 
buildings and inferior cows and general conditions 
that do not involve much <>f a risk or investment. 
For these and many other reasons no one has been 
able to suggest a formula that one might apply to 
average conditions and determine the cost of pro¬ 
ducing a quart of milk. 
Assuming that your Holstein cows will average 
*•<>00 lbs. of milk per year, and applying general 
rules of feeding, the following suggestions might 
serve as a guide. Requirements for each cow cover¬ 
ing a period of one year: 
5.400 lbs. grain at 2e per lb. $G0.00 
2.400 lbs. silage at $7.50 per ton. 9.00 
2.400 lbs. roughage at $20 per ton. 24.00 
Six months pasture at $2 per month. 32.00 
Interest on cost or value of cow. 7.00 
Allow for depreciation. 30.00 
Labor per cow, per year. 25.00 
"°B»1. $347.00 
3t will be noted that this calculation assumes that 
the calf will in part pay for the feed the cow con¬ 
sumes when dry: that it is assumed that the ma¬ 
nure voided by the cow will contribute toward labor 
costs and that the men who milk and care for the 
cows will also help with the farm work. No attempt 
has• been made to allow for the investment in the 
farm—the buildings or the dairy or farm equipment. 
The grains have been sold to the cows at $40 per 
ton, and the bay for $20. while the silage goes in at 
$7.50 per ton. We have allowed 1 lb. of feed for 
each 5 lbs. of milk, assumed to be 8,000 lbs., and 
allowed 550 lbs. additional for use during the dry 
period. At best these figures can only serve as a 
guide, for. as stated at the outset, there are a great 
many limiting factors that are encountered in pro¬ 
ducing milk or attempting to determine even possible 
costs of production. This determination suggests a 
probable outlay for feed and labor of 5}Ac per qt. of 
milk produced. While 8,000 lbs. of milk is not a high 
individual yield, it would be a mighty good average 
for 3 00 common cows, one year after another, and 
it is evident that many of our so-called high-grade 
herds do not approach this figure. The dairy indus¬ 
try is in the midst of a trying ordeal. Prices of 
milk, however, have not dropped in proportion to 
the decline in feed prices, and if there ever was a 
time when the dairy farmer could afford to feed his 
cows generously it is now, when he can purchase 
feeding stuff's much cheaper than he can produce the 
feed. With crop conditions none too promising, 
many are of the opinion that feeds have touched bot¬ 
tom, aud that empty bins on dairy farms might well 
be filled at the prevailing low values. f. c. m. 
