250 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



4. Beautificution of the home and country school grounds: l*lans 

 have been iiuule and carried out. There is a big field for this kind of ex- 

 tension worlc. 



5. Christmas tree planting for city markets: A 10 acre mixed plant- 

 ing of poplar and spruce was made near Nunica. There seems to be a 

 big demand for home grown Christmas trees and plantations are being 

 put in all over the state. 



G. Roadside tree plantings: A planting of roadside trees was made 

 on a mile and a half of road near Howard City. This phase of the work 

 sliould be pushed the coming year. 



7. Meetings were held with the maple syrup and sugar makers in 

 various parts of the state and the Michigan Maple Syrup Makers' Asso- 

 ciation Avas organized. The object of this association was to encourage 

 better and more economical methods of producing pure, high grade 

 Michigan maple syrup, to make better and more uniform grades of 

 syrup, to assist in advertising and marketing the product and to aid 

 the syrup maker in solving his problems. It has a membership of 60 

 farmers and nearly all of these men were given some assistance in their 

 sugar camps. 



SUMMARY. 



Total 

 No. Attendance. 



Farm visits 172 



Demonstrations held 20 142 



Visits to buyers of products G4 G4 



Conferences with County Agents 28 28 



Lectures given . , 10 410 



Schools visited 22 



Counties visited 40 



Farmers assisted in woodlot marketing.. 47 47 



People served (mostly farmers) 1,121 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1917. 



ANNUAL KEPOKT OP THE OFFICE OF MARKETS. 



To the State Board of Agriculture: 



I beg to submit the following report of investigations and work of the 

 Michigan Office of Markets for the year ending June 30tli, 1917. 



As to whether the markets office should be connected with other agri- 

 cultural activities of the state has been answered in the affirmative by 

 about three-fourths of the states adopting tlie Michigan plan of coordi- 

 nating Avitli the State Agricultural College. 



Marketing is one of the most complex of human relations and the best 

 constructive thought of the nation has been devoted to investigation and 

 outlining marketing procedure. The association of federal and state 

 activities provides a corps of men including county agricultural agents, 

 special agents of the markets office here and at Washington, and others, 

 which is a combination for service that is of advantage, because com- 

 merce is no longer thought of in state line boundaries. 



