P.D. 123. \ 5 



Investigation of conditions affecting some areas for which pel i lions have been 

 received lias disclosed that the difficulties encountered by the pT'oprietors of the 

 proposed district areas can be solved without the organization of a district. 

 Usually in such cases the proprietors need advice and some assistance from the 

 Reclamation Board in order to do what is necessary. It is therefore recommended 

 that in passing upon each petition the Board make a definite decision whether the 

 organization of a district is necessary, and if the decision is that no district need 

 be organized the Board would then have authority to act on behalf of the pro- 

 pi'ietors so far as may be necessary. When the Board decides that a district 

 should be organized the requirements for organization and the method of forming 

 a district are left the same as they now are except for changes in minor details 

 as already mentioned. 



Changes in the Staff. 



During the year the Department lost, through resignation, the services of Miss 

 Helen W. Grant, who had been in charge of the Farm Labor Bureau for several 

 years and had been engaged in other lines of investigational work. Miss Grant 

 was first appointed to establish the farm labor service and her work in connec- 

 tion with it was of great value to farmers seeking help and farm workers seeking 

 positions. She had also compiled each year the list of farms for sale in Massa- 

 chusetts, which has proved of considerable value to persons wishing to sell or buy 

 farm property. Miss Grant was not only a faithful and efficient employee but 

 she possessed originality in working along new lines and her going was a 

 decided loss to the Department. 



Development of a New England Program. 



Much has been accomplished in the past year toward the further development 

 of a New England food program. In January, 1923, the six New England 

 governors called an important agricultural conference to consider the situation 

 of agriculture in New England and to work out a ten year program. The con- 

 ference selected a committee to carry on this w^ork and since the time of the 

 conference a widespread interest in the progi-am has been developed. 



It was finally agreed that the first necessary step was to reduce to writing a 

 statement of the present situation, the agencies employed to further agricultural 

 matters in New England and the ten year program worked out by committees at 

 the original conference. A book of 273 pages was prepared with this object in 

 view. It was written by some of the best specialists in New England under the 

 general editorship of the writer. No state nor private funds were available for 

 its publication, but one of the largest book publishers of national reputation was 

 induced to undertake the work of publishing it. It is now on sale with the title 

 "The Food Supply of New England." Its preface and table of contents follow: 



Preface 



This book gives a brief survey of New England agriculture with particu- 

 lar reference to the New England food supply. Much has been written 

 about various phases of it, but this seems to be the first attempt to present 

 the whole picture, although it is not intended to cover the subject exhaus- 

 tively. The whole question is a complex one, and some of its phases are 

 acute. In the presentation technical terms have been avoided. 



In January, 1923, the governors of the six New England States called a 

 conference in Boston for the purpose of beginning a concerted study of the 

 whole food question. The conference set itself to take an inventory of the 

 present situation and to lay out a ten-year program for New England agri- 

 culture. A summary of the programs formulated by each commodity com- 

 mittee forms one chapter of this book. The work of the conference is now 

 being actively can-ied on by a Continuance Committee acting through a 

 small executive committee. New England is one economic unit. It is logical 

 that the various agencies of the six states should work together to solve the 

 problem. 



