DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives: 



In compliance with the provisions of Chapter 128 of the General Laws, I am here- 

 with making my annual report for the year ending November 30, 1938, for the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



Respectfully submitted, 



William Casey, Commissioner. 



PERSONNEL OF THE DEPARTMENT 



Commissioner of Agriculture — William Casey, Spencer. 

 Executive Secretary to the Commissioner- — Michael J. Carroll. 



Advisory Board Appointed by the Governor and Council 



John Bursley, Barnstable (West), Term expires November 30, 1938. 



James O'Brien, Lee, Term expires November 30, 1940. 



John T. Goggin. Seekonk, Term expires November 30, 1940. 



Louis A. Riordan. North Abington, Term expires November 30, 1938. 



George A. Wells, Worcester, Term expires November 30, 1939. 



Divisions and Organizations 



Livestock Disease Control — Director. Charles F. Riordan, Sharon. 



Dairying and Animal Husbandry — Director, Lester T. Tompkins, Essex 



Markets — Director. William F. Madden, Boston. 



Plant Pest Control — Director^ R. Harold Allen, Taunton. 



■R(Eclamation, Soil Survey and Fairs — Director, Robert F. Cross, Osterville; 



Assistant Director, A. W. Lombard, Arlington. 

 Agriculturist — Daniel J. Curran, Marlborough. 



State Reclamation Board 



Chairman, Daniel J. Curran, Marlborough. 



Edward Wright, Dedham. Robert F. Cross, Osterville. 



Secretary, George R. Stratton, Hopkington. 



REPORT OF THE COMMISIONER 



September Hurricane and Floods 



The year 1938 will long be remembered by our farmers for the disastrous summer 

 floods of July and September and the devastating hurricane of September 21. It is 

 not difficult to imagine the dismay and heartache of individual farmers who examined 

 the wreckage of homes and buildings, surveyed the loss and damage to farm crops on 

 the morning of September 22, with the winter months ahead, incomes erased and a 

 long uphill struggle before them in rehabilitating waste and wreckage. The courage, 

 however, of our Massachusetts farmers has been tested before and never found want- 

 ing. There was a big job to be done and watchful waiting would not accomplish the 

 task. 



Our fruit growers suffered severe losses. All of the late apples were on the ground 

 and had to be packed and marketed as soon as possible. The Federal Government, 

 through its Surplus Commodities Corporation, gave some measure of relief by pur- 

 chasing 321,410 bushels of the hurricane apples at 75 cents a box, which included a 

 15 cent charge for the box. Shipping points were established at convenient loading 

 railroad stations and more than 484 carloads were shipped outside of Massachusetts to 

 large consuming centers for relief purposes. A few carloads of selected drops were 

 sent to canning factories in Massachusetts, but our local markets were at no time 

 glutted with shipments of these apples that were valued at approximately $241,000. 



In many of our larger orchards thousands of trees were uprooted or bent over by 

 the terrific fury of the wind and needless to say our farmers immediately responded to 

 the task of saving as many trees as possible. It was estimated that the cost of pulling 

 back the tree and resetting it firmlv in the ground would be from $3 to ?S and the ex- 

 pense to some fruit growers for this single item amounted to several thousand dollars. 

 This work had to be done before the winter freeze, and for the most part it has been 

 well done at this time. The loss of apples was partly compensated by the financial 



