6 P.D. 123 



Recipients of Awards for Agricultural Achievement 

 Continuing a custom established by the Department in 1924 the Advisory Board 

 selected the following named persons as worthy of public recognition for their re- 

 spective outstanding contribution to Agriculture and Rural Life : 



Charles S. Tenney, Northfield, Dairy Farming. 



Walter H. Mayo, Orleans, Duck Raising. 



Mrs. Addelene B. Floody, Worcester, Community Service. 



Archer L. Pierce, Peabody, Fruit Growing. 



Miss Harriet Wheeler, Shirley, Club Work. 



Veikko Merikanto, Hubbardston, Club Work. 



Regulatory Work of the Department 

 The policy of the Department, during the past year, has been to enforce the laws 

 coming under its jurisdiction strictly and impartially and on first violations to 

 summons the parties concerned before a special board to be heard. At these hear- 

 ings all the details relating to the case as reported by the inspector were presented 

 to the violators, and they in turn were requested to present any circumstances in 

 their opinion which might affect the case. The resulting effect of the hearings was 

 most encouraging in that the parties concerned gave every indication of cooper- 

 ating with the Department in a strict enforcement program of our agricultural laws. 

 It has been our observation that those persons who attended the hearings and were 

 fully instructed in the provisions of the law have made special effort to carry on 

 their agricultural activities within the law. 



The Seed Law 



It has been our policy to acquaint seed dealers with the provisions of the seed 

 law indicating to them that the enforcement of the law has a two-fold purpose. 



1 . The true labehng of seeds would enable our farmers to inteUigently 

 purchase the kind of seeds that they want, and in the event that our farm- 

 ers saw fit to purchase a low grade seed, it would then be evident that the 

 farmers should receive educational instruction along this hne. 



2. A uniform compliance with the provisions of the seed law relating to 

 the testing, analyzing and sale of agricultural seeds would do away with 

 unfair competition among seed dealers and place all dealers upon a more 

 uniform basis relating to price schedules. 



For the most part we received satisfactory cooperation from the dealers during 

 the past year, and it is felt that the operations of the seed law have been instru- 

 mental in bringing about a more healthy condition regarding the sale of quality 

 seeds in Massachusetts. Four hundred and fifty-three official seed samples were 

 collected by our inspectors in 59 towns for the State, 36 of which have not been 

 included in previous inspections. These samples were sent to the Seed Labor- 

 atory at Amherst for tests and analyses. A publication showing the results of 

 such tests and analyses will be published under the supervision of the Department 

 of Agriculture, and this publication in itself is a vital factor in our regulatory work, 

 inasmuch as it shows to the seed trade the dealers who are selling a high quality of 

 seed and those who are selling a poor quality of seed. It further gives an accurate 

 statement of those dealers who are labeling the seed correctly and those who are 

 not. 



The Corn Borer Law 



The entire State of Massachusetts is now under quarantine for the corn borer 

 and our inspectors are operating in the four western counties as well as the eastern 

 and central part of the State. It will be the policy of the Department to insist 

 upon a strict compliance of the corn borer law in those counties that were recently 

 quarantined, in order that they will suffer the least possible infestation. It will 

 require an educational program in these counties to bring before the farmers the 

 necessity of taking every precaution to control this dangerous insect. Demon- 

 strations in the use of low-cutting devices will be continued and where the corn 

 stubble can be cut at the ground level, a real advance has been made in control 

 measures. 



