Cfje CommonttiealtJ) of ^a00acJ)U9!ett0 



ANNUAL REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER. 



Introduction. 



With only a few exceptions the 1920 season has been a pros- 

 perous one for Massachusetts farmers. The principal difficulty 

 has been the securing of adequate farm help, and many farmers 

 have found it necessary to curtail operations down to what it 

 was possible to do with such labor as could be obtained. 

 During the late summer and fall many of the factories began 

 to shut down and more day labor suitable for limited kinds of 

 farm work was available. 



For several years past the Massachusetts farmers who raised 

 specialties, such as onions, tobacco, cranberries, garden truck, 

 etc., have been faring better than general farmers, because of 

 the high cash prices for their products and the demand due to 

 the war; on the other hand, dairy farmers may have received 

 fair gross prices, but the expense for food and other important 

 items has been so great that they have not made the net re- 

 turns which specialty farmers have made. During the past 

 year, however, men running general farms have fared better 

 than the others, because prices for cash crops had fallen so 

 rapidly during the fall that in most cases they were below the 

 cost of production. The price of milk, on the other hand, while 

 at. no time excessively high, has been high enough to show a 

 fair profit where efficient production has been practiced. The 

 result has been a slight increase in the number of dairy cows in 

 the State during the past year. 



The tendency of farmers to combine for the purpose of 

 buying and selling in large quantities has increased, resulting 



