12 P.D. 123 



State that the draft horse will continue to be the mainstay of accomplishing 

 many kinds of labor on the farm. We have attempted during the current year 

 to obtain the registration of stallions in the State and have compiled important 

 data on the number of draft horses. We have been in touch constantly M^ith 

 various sources throughout the United States where the type of draft horse 

 needed on our farms could be obtained at reasonable prices. In fact, we have 

 attempted in every possible way to give to the farmers of this Commonwealth 

 a service that they need in locating different sources of high grade dairy cows, 

 ewes, draft horses and other farm animals, and acquainting individual farmers 

 with the information obtained. This service should provide to the buyer and 

 seller a common mutual interest. 



Licensing and Bonding of Milk Dealers 

 Protecting the payment to the dairy farmer in connection with the bonding 

 and licensing of milk dealers has continued to be of an exacting nature. This 

 law intends that the payments to the dairy farmer by the milk dealer shall 

 be protected and that the milk dealer shall file with the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture a bond or other security that is substantially equivalent to the pur- 

 chase price of milk from Massachusetts dairy farmers for one payment 

 period. We have approximately $600,000 in securities of diffei'ent types filed 

 with the Commissioner of Agriculture and deposited in the State Treasurer's 

 office. In a few cases it has been necessary for this division to reach and apply 

 the bond or other security filed with the Comissioner and pay to the producer 

 certain amounts that were owed for milk. We have distributed in this way 

 an amount equal to $25,000. In five cases it has been necessary for us to bring 

 certain cases to the attention of the courts in our endeavor to obtain satis- 

 factory adjustments for the producers. We might say, however, that the per- 

 centage of milk dealers who appear unwilling to comply fully with the provi- 

 sions of the licensing and bonding law is small and that our associations with 

 dealers have been most satisfactory. We have attempted to secure from the 

 dealer in all cases a type of liquid security that could be easily reached and 

 applied to the payment of overdue accounts. We have been successful in elim- 

 inating to a large extent the number of chattel mortgages that were filed with 

 the Commissioner of Agriculture during the first year of the operation of this 

 law. It will be our purpose to accept from the milk dealer only that type of 

 security that will afford the producer the highest form of protection. This 

 law is recognized as a form of relief that has been needed for years in the 

 milk industry and it is only by constant effort and strict enforcement that the 

 relief intended by this law can be brought to the dairy farmer. We shall try 

 in the enforcement of this ^law, as in our other laws, to mix a certain amount 

 of education with our regulatoi-y program. We have prosecuted cex'tain cases 

 in our courts only when every other means at our disposal failed, and we shall 

 continue to give every party at interest in the milk industry impartial con- 

 sideration to the end that the entire milk industry in Massachusetts shall 

 develop on a profitable basis. 



REPORT OF THE DIVISION OF MARKETS 



Shipping Point Inspection 



Shipping point inspection service was maintained on onions and apples dur- 

 ing the shipping season. This work is done under a cooperative agreement 

 with the United States Department of Agriculture. Fees are charged for in- 

 spection certificates at rates which are designed to make this service eventually 

 self-supporting. 



The onion work was done in the Connecticut Valley. An inspector of this 

 division was stationed at Northhampton from early August into October. 

 Inspections were made at loading stations in the Valley towns. 



Activities of the inspector covered not only the actual certification of ship- 

 ments, but he also carried on considerable educational work among the growers 

 and shippers, by giving them instructions concerning grades and methods of 

 handling the crop. 



