REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 15 



advisability of creating a commission to have jurisdiction over 

 such v^^ork, with authority to recommend rules and regulations 

 to the Commissioner of Agriculture, who would be the executive 

 officer of the commission. Such commission might be made up 

 of three men in the departmeint and, joined with them, the ento- 

 mologist and the plant pathologist of the Maine Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. The jurisdiction of this commission would 

 include the gypsy moth, the brown-tail, and all other insects, 

 pests and diseases destructive to vegetation. A conference has 

 already been held in the department to consider the matter and 

 by its direction a rough draft of an Act has been made by Mr. 

 Gardner. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



Quarterly Bulletins have been published by the State Dairy 

 Inspector, Russell S. Smith, on the work of his bureau; a 

 bulletin on Better Crops, by C. R. Leland, Assistant Dairy 

 Instructor ; a bulletin on Dairy Feeds and Records, by F. S. 

 Adams, State Dairy Instructor ; a bulletin on Strawberry Cul- 

 ture under Maine Conditions, by A. K. Gardner and H. P. 

 Sweetser; a bulletin on Trip to National Dairy Show by F. S. 

 Adams and E. E. Philbrook ; Report of Gregory Orchards for 

 the Fourth Year and Gregory Orchard Circular No. 2, by A. K. 

 Gardner; a Catalogue of Farms for Sale in Maine, and the 

 report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, Hon. J. A. Roberts, 

 for the year 1913. 



GROWTH OF THE DEPARTMENT. 



At the time of the creation of the office of Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, in 1901, the duties of the position were confined 

 mostly to institute work and visiting fairs. Soon after that 

 there was established in the department a Dairy Division for 

 the improvement of dairy products, the official head being 

 known as Dairy Instructor. A system of dairy inspection was 

 provided and placed in the hands of a State Dairy Inspector. 

 Later a Bureau of Horticulture was established, the head of 

 which was known as the State Horticulturist, and he was pro- 

 vided with an assistant. The spread of the brown-tail and 

 gypsy moths in the state led to the creation of the office of Field 



