No. 123.] REPORT OF COMMISSIONER. 21 



even foreign cities. Boston may be said to supply almost en- 

 tirely a 50-mile area inclusive of the Cape, the remainder of 

 our New England distribution going to the larger cities and 

 there being redistributed. 



The summer resort areas in the mountains, Maine and on 

 the Cape draw heavily on perishables during the summer 

 months July to September. Although all New England is a 

 territory served by Boston as a distribution center, yet very 

 little foodstuffs from Boston reach a territory in Connecticut 

 west of the Connecticut River, this fact being due to the com- 

 petition which is met there from New York. Worcester, with 

 the exception of specialties, has an area inclusive of Worcester 

 County, western Middlesex County north to Peterboro, New 

 Hampshire, and south to Providence, Rhode Island, depending 

 largely upon the motor truck and trolley express as trans- 

 portation agencies. 



The influence of the use of freight transportation is a feature 

 of Springfield's distribution. The lines of railways from Spring- 

 field extending west to Pittsfield, south to Hartford, north to 

 South Vernon, Vermont, northeast to Athol, east to Leicester, 

 are all outlying points of Springfield's distribution area, the 

 arteries of which are the railroad lines. 



Similar material concerning other cities in the State is avail- 

 able, from which one may see at a glance the section covered 

 by the distribution from each city, and the center from which 

 each locality in the State receives its shipped-in food supply. 



Transimrtation. 

 New England, producing only a small proportion of the 

 food it consumes, is so located with respect to the nation's 

 food supply as to make it imperative that her supply may 

 arrive without interruption. Our geography is such as to 

 require the full use of our gateways to the West, and the 

 limitations thus placed upon us make essential the thorough 

 organization of our railway freight service. Avoidance of 

 delays, sufficient and adequate rolling stock, improved re- 

 frigeration and better terminal handling equipment, as well as 

 the education of shippers as to the proper methods of loading 

 and packing, all are factors which should receive the attention 

 of our common carriers. 



