l6 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE- 



STATISTICS AND SEED IMPROVEMENT WORK. 



In accordance with the law directing the Commissioner to 

 undertake the above work and complying with your instruc- 

 tions, Mr. A. S. Cook, of Presque Isle, was engaged to have 

 immediate direction of the plans of the Department. Mr. 

 Cook's services with the Department began in January and 

 during the first few months he Avas occupied almost entirely in 

 completing the gathering of statistics and preparation is now 

 being made to publish the first report of this nature ever issued 

 by the Department. 



In making plans for improving the crops of the State it was 

 thought best to co-operate with the Maine Seed Improvement 

 Association, an association organized at Waterville, January 

 25th, 1910, for the purpose of improving the crops of the State 

 through the selection, breeding, and distribution of superior 

 strains of seed, but as to how long this co-operative arrange- 

 ment should continue will of course depend entirely upon the 

 results accomplished. The plan of co-operation arranged for 

 included the furnishing of seed corn to such members of the 

 association as desired it, for the purpose of carrying on co-opera- 

 tive tests. During the. summer months the members were vis- 

 ited by Mr. Cook for the purpose of investigating methods and 

 results, as well as to give advice wherever necessary and de- 

 sirable. 



Detailed reports of each visitation \Aere made and are now 

 on file in this office. In my opinion the work undertaken by 

 the Maine Seed Improvement Association is of the greatest 

 importance and should continue to receive as it has thus far. 

 the closest co-operation from the Department of Agriculture, 

 the Agricultural College, and Experiment Station ; in fact, the 

 work must receive the co-operative assistance and direction of 

 men trained in the science of plant breeding if it is ever to be 

 wholly successful, and herein lies the part the Agricultural 

 College and Experiment Station must play in the successful 

 prosecution of this great work. 



The annual meeting of the association will be held in Au- 

 gusta December 9 and 10 of the present year. At that time 

 a competitive exhibit of corn, small grains, beans, and potatoes 

 will be held and addresses on important plant breeding prob- 

 lems will be delivered. As plans for future work will at that 



