REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 9 



sweet cream. A very small percentage is made into butter and 

 •cheese. We have a large sweet cream trade in Massachusetts, 

 and even our whole milk is sent to Massachusetts to some 

 extent. The dairy product for the year amounted to about 

 $10,880,000, though, as in the case of many of the products of 

 the farm, the producer did not get the price he should. We 

 must get more for our dairy products, under the conditions, or 

 the dairyman cannot continue the business ; as it is acknowl- 

 edged by the best of authority that clean milk at ten cents per 

 quart is the cheapest food that can be obtained, taking into 

 account the food value as compared with other articles of food 

 at the present prices. 



SEED IMPROVEMENT. 



The seed work was well taken care of by the l^epartment. 

 Valuable assistance was rendered by the department of plant 

 and animal breeding of the Experiment Station at Orono, and 

 members of the vSeed Improvement Association. We find that 

 many of our farmers are not paying the attention that they 

 should to the selection of the seed that they plant. Careful 

 selection of seed would mean thousands of dollars to the farm- 

 ers of this State annually. We hope to improve the conditions, 

 so that the farmer can raise larger crops by the selection of 



good seed. 



POULTRY. 



Our poultry industry is largely on the increase. For the 

 past year it amounted to $4,000,000. This is an industry that 

 is not receiving as much aid from the State as it should. Our 

 breeders of poultry are well up in the front with the breeders 

 in different parts of the country, on pure bred stock as well as 

 birds that are bred for business, and I think we should have a 

 man to assist the poultry keepers to develop this industry, as I 

 think it would be of great advantage to the poultrymen of the 

 State. 



THE SHEEP INDUSTRY. 



I am very sorry to learn, from the reports of the State Board 

 of Assessors, that the number of sheep kept in this State has 

 decreased so much, as the number given us by the Assessors 



