P.D. 123 13 



Mr. Oliver S. Flint was authorized as the Department Inspector and forty- 

 two flocks were inspected and approved as Massachusetts Certified. As 

 soon as a flock becomes certified, it is elig:ible to use the New Eng'Iand Quality 

 Products Label. Thirty breeders applied for the use of the label and five 

 thousand were mailed out. 



During the summer there was considerable demand for the establishment 

 of a second State grade for poultry flocks to be called "Massachusetts 

 Accredited," indicating 100 per cent freedom from Pullorum Disease. 

 After considerable discussion of the matter, a hearing was held at the State 

 House on November 20, 1929, where both sides stated their arguments for 

 and against. The weight of the opponents to the establishment of this new 

 grade seemed strongest, so that the proposition was dropped. 



REPORT OF THE DIVISION OF MARKETS 



The work of the Division of Markets has broadened materially in the 

 past year, due to the growth of the grading and labeling program. 



Several years ago it was suggested that farmers of this State could use to 

 advantage a method not only of grading their products, but of identifying 

 them to the consumer. Legislation to make this program official was 

 passed in 1927. Use of grades and labels by producers has increased. 

 Products packed under official grades have been well inspected. The move- 

 ment has become so well established in certain commodities that the con- 

 sumer has commenced to ask for such labeled products. 



The furnishing of information on the marketing of farm products that is 

 of value to the producer, distributor, and housewife continues to be an 

 important part of the work of the Division of Markets. The Division is 

 very frequently called on for information that is not only current, but which 

 covers a period of years. Such facts being available for a number of years 

 furnish a basis for action which is far ahead of guesswork or opinion. 



Market reporting no longer waits upon the mails for its spread of informa- 

 tion, as an ever-increasing number of people depend on the radio as their 

 source of market news. 



Sound procedure in merchandising starts with a study of market demand 

 and this Division has collected definite demand facts on several commodi- 

 ties which may be used by Massachusetts farmers in marketing their produce. 



Details of the work of the Division follow. 



Standardization and Grades 



Producers are using grades on eggs, baby chicks, asparagus, turkeys and 

 apples. Interest is also being shown in grades for potatoes, strawberries, 

 and hothouse cucumbers, and these grades, as well as others, will be promul- 

 gated when there is sufficient demand. 



Poultry producers believe in the program of grading and labeling, since 

 the number of men using the New England Quality Products Label increased 

 in 1929 from 56 to 130, with a distribution of 200,000 labels. 



To the co-operation of the County Extension Services much of the credit 

 is due on the promotional work and on aiding in inspections. Most of the 

 inspection on eggs carrying the label was done at the farms and in many 

 cases it was possible to straighten out difficulties and give valuable sugges- 

 tions on grading at the same time. 



The outstanding event in the use of the label was with turkeys. For a 

 long time turkeys from other states have been represented as fresh and 

 nearby, and there has been no official method of marking local turkeys. 

 However, with the rapid increase in local production, growers in Massa- 

 chusetts desired some way of designating their turkeys as native. 



A hearing was called October 22 to consider turkey grades, and after con- 

 sideration a grade called "Massachusetts Native Fancy Grade" was estab- 

 lished. The results were that by Thanksgiving time, a month later, over 

 50 turkey producers had applied for the grade and used 16,000 tags to 

 identify their birds. It was estimated that one quarter of a million pounds 

 of turkey were so marked and that consumer response was favorable. 



