6 P.D. 123. 



tion which could not be gathered in any other way, and from this commission 

 would naturally come a program which would help to correlate the work of 

 various agencies toward a common end. 



New England Agricultural Conference. 



The New England Agricultural Conference called by the Governors of the 

 six New England States was a great success. The members of the conference 

 formulated a ten year program for Ncav England agriculture. They also made 

 a survey of the present situation. Since the conference the Executive Com- 

 mittee has been preparing a two hundred and fifty to three hundred page book 

 on the present food situation in New England. This book will come from the 

 press shortly. The Executive Committee has also held conferences in an en- 

 deavor to correlate the work of the six New England States into a common plan. 

 For example, each of the six experiment stations conducts research and issues 

 bulletins periodically. This research should be planned to prevent duplication 

 and to fill gaps, and the bulletins of one state should be readily accessible to the 

 farmers, or others, of the other five states. Moreover, pieces of Avork, like in- 

 vestigations of tobacco in the Connecticut Valley in which two states are equally 

 concerned, should by agreement be performed by one state with the full co- 

 operation of the other, instead of duplicating the same work by the two states 

 concerned. The New England Agricultural Conference is working toward the 

 formation of a permanent agricultural organization which shall act as a sort 

 of clearing house to keep the agricultural work of the six states in harmony. 

 It is not intended that this should be an executive body, as there are ample 

 agencies in each state to carry out the suggestions of the conference. 



European Corn Borer. 



The European corn borer is less serious in Massachusetts than it was a year 

 ago. This is probably due to conditions of the past winter and other similar 

 factors. The new law passed by the Legislature in 1923 provided that all corn 

 fields in the quarantine area shall be plowed before December 1, 1923. There 

 has been a ready support to the carrying out of this new statute. We believe 

 that it will be particularly effective in the towns where the corn borer has come 

 most recently and in which so far its main host is corn. The plowing of fields 

 turns the stubble underneath the surface and kills the borers. This should be 

 very effective in keeping them in control. So effective has the work been this 

 year that no new towns, except the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nan- 

 tucket, have been added to the quarantine area. It is probably too much to 

 expect that the European corn borer will be entirely eradicated but it is hoped 

 that it will be kept in check through the cooperation of our citizens. The 

 commercial agencies and the press should be commended especially for their 

 active interest and support of this campaign. 



Certification of Poultry. 



The poultry industry of Massachusetts is increasing rapidly and has a great 

 future. The principal drawback to this industry is the poultry diseases. Scien- 

 tific research has demonstrated that the worst of these diseases, namely white 

 diarrhea in chicks, can be controlled by hatching eggs from hens which are not 

 carriers of these diseases. It is possible to determine these by means of 

 relatively simple blood tests. The poultry raisers have begun a commendable 

 campaign looking toward the certification of hatching plants where eggs have 

 come from flocks which are free of disease. I recommend that this depart- 

 ment be given additional facilities to certify officially such flocks. The certi- 

 fication by voluntary state agencies is the only effective way of giving the 

 proper confidence to a certificate of this sort. 



If the certification of hatcheries can be made effective we may be able to 

 look forward to disease free flocks over the entire state and eventually it may 

 become desirable and necessary to require all fowls or chicks brought into 

 the state to be tested and passed upon the same as is done in the testing of 

 cattle for tuberculosis at the present time. 



