4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



able to cultivation by any portion of the United States. This section 

 embraces the counties of Lancaster, Lebanon, Montgomery, Delaware, 

 Chester and portion of York. Like sections of territory, that are 

 comparatively free from mountains, are found in the southeastern 

 corner of the State and extending along the western border to the 

 northern boundary. In other sections of the State, large valleys oc- 

 cur between hills and mountains, possessing soil conditions as favor- 

 able to agriculture as any of the sections of the State already re- 

 ferred to, and at the same time possessing, on account of their loca- 

 tion, very superior climatic conditions, so that in the agricultural 

 advantages they possess they are practically unsurpassed. In former 

 reports more complete reference has been made to these favorable 

 agricultural conditions, and this brief reference is repeated here for 

 the benefit of such inquirers as may not have had access to former 

 reports. 



Added to tlie favorable soil and climate conditions referred to, the 

 great mining and manufacturing interests of the State have brought 

 to the door of the Pennsylvania farmer a market unsurpassed for 

 everything produced upon the farm, from the highest grade of animal 

 products to the lowest and most cheaply produced vegetables raised 

 for human consumption. 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE WORK IT 



IS DOING 



Recognizing the importance of encouraging agriculture in the 

 State, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth passed an Act, 

 in 1876, creating a State Board of Agriculture, which, from its or- 

 ganization, became an active factor in improving agricultural con- 

 ditions in the State, and was, until 1805, the only active agency 

 through which the State operated to secure this end. 



The recognized necessity for providing closer supervision of the 

 agricultural interests of the State and more eflficient means of ex- 

 tending agricultural knowledge, led to the passage of the Act of 1895, 

 creating a Department of Agriculture and outlining the work it 

 should perform. 



This Act did not do away with the Board, but provided for the 

 co-operation of Department and Board, which, to the mind of the 

 writer, has proved very eflficient. producing results that could not, 

 without such co-operation, have been secured without largely in- 

 creasing the cost. 



The work of the Department from the beginning has been two-fold: 

 First, the educational work; and second, what may be termed the 

 administration or police work with which it is charged. 



It is the opinion of the writer that in both these lines of activity 

 our State is, in the organization and efficiency of its work, equal to 

 any, and superior to most of the states of the Union, 



