REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. II 



The State Dairy Conference was held at Saco and very much 

 interest was manifested, it being the first dairy conference 

 ever held in York Co. 



SEED IMPROVEMENT WORK. 

 The field agent of this Department has been working among 

 the farmers and has given them all the assistance possible, but 

 many of our farmers do not realize the importance of selecting 

 good seed and grading up their seed by careful selection. 

 There is nothing that will reduce the yield of a crop more than 

 poor seed. The cooperation of the Experiment Station and 

 the Bureau of Plant and Animal Industry has been of great 

 assistance, as they are continually demonstrating, especially on 

 dififerent kinds of grain, potatoes and other seeds. In many 

 parts of our State the potato crop has been diminished in yield 

 by the use of poor seed and the yield per acre is steadily drop- 

 ping off, which is a great loss to the farmer. 



POULTRY. 



Our poultry industry is on the increase. The income from 

 poultry in this State amounted to $4,500,000 for the past year. 

 The assessors only give us the statistics on poultry every five 

 years, the last being taken in 1908, at which time the number 

 of hens was 1,907,656; turkeys, 2,836; ducks, 7,295; geese, 

 2,314. I believe we should have an appropriation for the inter- 

 est of poultry in the State, for the work on poultry is suffi- 

 cient to have a man along this line who would be well qualified 

 to instruct the poultry keepers and thereby assist those that are 

 engaged in this important industry; for I believe that fresh eggs 

 and poultry are far better food than the beef and other meat 

 products that the people now consume, and it is a v/ell paying 

 industry if it can receive the attention that it should. I think 

 the poultrymen of the State should cooperate in putting their 

 eggs and poultry on to the market in better shape and receive 

 better prices. 



SHEKP. 

 I am pleased to report an increase in the last two years in 

 the number of sheep kept in the State. In 1910 we had 125.439 



