P.D. 123 5 



we find that there are restrictions which tend to limit the necessary powers and 

 authority of Massachusetts co-operatives. In many cases groups of Massa- 

 chusetts farmers have found it advisable to organize under other State laws 

 that allowed greater freedom of operation and management. It might well ap- 

 pear, insofar as our progress in agriculture is concerned that greater co-opera- 

 tive effort must be evidenced before we can compete successfully with the well 

 organized sections of other states that are competing on our Massachusetts 

 markets. With this thought in mind the following legislation was presented 

 to the General Court and received favorable action by that body, and was 

 signed by the Governor on May 25, 1936: 



"Resolved, That a special commission, to consist of the attorney general, the 

 commissioner of corporations and taxation, and the commissioner of agricul- 

 ture, is hereby established to investigate the subject matter of current house 

 documents numbered thirteen hundred and fifty, thirteen hundred and fifty- 

 one and fourteen hundred and one, relative to the incorporation and conduct of 

 agricultural and other co-operative corporations. Any member of the commis- 

 sion, if he so elects, may designate an officer or employee in his department to 

 serve in his place on said commission. The commission shall report to the 

 general court the results of its investigation, and its recommendations, if any, 

 together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry said recommendations 

 into effect, by filing the same with the clerk of the house of representatives on 

 or before the first Wednesday of December in the current year." 



A good cooperative law with more elastic provisions than exist at the pres- 

 ent time would be most helpful to our farmers who realize that the tacoomp- 

 lishments of one man in our complicated life today are very meagre, and that 

 a bigger agriculture can be achieved only by perfecting strong organizations 

 of gi'oups of farmers. 



Reclaiming Flooded Lands 



One of the most outstanding pieces of work performed by the Department in 

 1936 was in connection with the reclaiming of flood-damaged farm lands in 

 the Connecticut and Merrimac River Valleys. 



In March, 1936 as a result of the worst flood which Massachusetts has ever 

 suffered within the recollection of the present day generation, the farm lands 

 in the towns bordering on the Connecticut and Merrimac Rivers were not only 

 submerged for many days but were in some instances gullied out and practi- 

 cally ruined, and in other places covered with a deposit of either silt or sand 

 to a depth ranging from a few inches to several feet. The owners of these 

 farm lands were practically helpless. They had neither the money nor the 

 equipment with which to repair the damage and to put the land into condition 

 for planting and raising crops. The public health problem was also involved 

 and immediate attention was necessary. The entire problem was of vital im- 

 portance to the continuance of agricultural enterprise and the most fertile 

 lands in this commonwealth 



Surveys had been made by various agencies, both state and federal, but no 

 definite results had been obtained. The Connecticut Valley was at a standstill 

 and at a time when crops should be planted and farming operations in fulj; 

 swing. It was at this time that the Department of Agriculture entered the 

 picture with the suggestion that special deep bottom plows could be procured 

 and that the state do the plowing for these farmers whose land was covered 

 with deposits of either silt or sand to a depth of from five to fifteen inches. The 

 legislature made an emergency flood relief appropriation and a portion of this 

 money was made available to cover the expense of operating. The Depart- 

 ment of Public Works had tractors available but where were the plows coming 

 from ? This matter was finally taken care of by the American Red Cross and 

 seventeen plows were purchased and rushed here from the middle west and at- 

 tached to the caterpillar tractors owned by the Department of Public Works 

 and the work of plowing started undar the supervision of the Massachusetts 

 Department of Agriculture. 



