No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 11 



this "farmers' side-line" has brought to the people of the State two 

 of our most successful and trained poultrymen to serve as Advisers 

 on Poultry. These experts have visited every county of the State 

 giving attention to the wants of poultry raisers; also have addressed 

 meetings, some of them very largely attended, on the subject now 

 uppermost in the thought of the people. 



The experts on Soils and Farm Crops have been busj'^ in their line 

 advising farmers how to obtain better soil and larger crops. Under 

 their instruction, old methods of farming are being discarded and 

 newer forms of cultivation of the lands are coming to the front. 



Twelve thousand farmers have been reached through the helpful 

 agency of the advisers on Dairying and Animal Husbandry. As a 

 result of their visits, there has come a marked improvement in the 

 replanning of farm operations, the erection of buildings and the 

 sanitary surroundings of the farm structures and the beautifying 

 of the premises. 



The homes, where the wives, mothers and daughters dwell, have 

 not been neglected by the Department ; but the expert on Home Sani- 

 tation and Household Economics, the only lady on the force, has met 

 and mingled with w^omen of the homes of the State imparting help- 

 ful instruction, thereby lightening the burdens of our women and 

 bringing them in touch with a thousand-and-one things that has 

 brought sunshine and cheer to many a housewife. 



All told, 7,665 farms of the State have been visited in about nine 

 months time by the corps of Advisers. None can estimate the great 

 good that has come to the farmers by the instruction given by these 

 men and one woman. 



DAIRY AND FOOD BUREAU 



The Commissioner has submitted a detailed statement of the opera- 

 tions of the Bureau for 1915, which, to be appreciated, should be 

 read in its entirety. All past records of the Bureau are shown to 

 have been broken. The same vigilance in administering the laws 

 charged to the Department for enforcement was observed and the 

 same faithfulness that has characterized the work of the Commis- 

 sioner and his employes for years was shown. Outside of the pro- 

 tection against disease and accident, there is no more important w^ork 

 than that of protecting the people of the State against adulteration 

 of foods or those tainted or otherwise unfit for consumption. 



The slogan of the hour is, "Save the Babies;" and there has been 

 a State-wide as well as Nation-wide agitation on the subject and 

 lovers of childhood are awake to the saving of the children. Being 

 the most important food for children, and, in many cases, the only 

 food up to a certain age, the purity of the milk supply is of paramount 

 importance to the health and life of the babies. Tlie Dairy and Food 

 Bureau has given special attention to the milk production of the 

 State, particularly looking after adulterations and whether it con- 

 tained less than the standard amount of butter-fat or solids. Fifty- 

 one hundred and ninety-three samples of milk were analyzed by the 

 chemists of the Department and nearly 500 cases terminated because 

 of adulterations of this product or having less than the standard 



