xx BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc 



Lit en ded Use of Farms by Purchasers. 

 For farming- purposes, . 123 

 For a home, ... 28 

 For summer residences . 17 

 For an investment, . . 16 

 For the wood and timber, . 15 

 For poultry with sonic farm- 

 ing 10 



*»' 



For dairying, . . .10 



For poultry, ... 9 



For sheep raising, . . 3 



For cranberry culture, . 1 



For floriculture, ... 1 



For raising hay, ... 1 



No return made, . . 98 



So far as this office has knowledge, purchasers as a rule 

 appear to be well satisfied with their purchases, and the 

 very cordial words with which some of them have endorsed 

 this work show that in their opinion it is meritorious. 



Demand for Catalogues and Information. 



That there is widespread interest in this work and a desire 



to know about available farm property in Massachusetts is 



shown by the many calls for catalogues from all parts of the 



countiy.* 



Bibliography . 



During the past fifteen years newspapers and magazines 

 have printed a large amount of information concerning the 

 depreciation and abandonment of farm property in Massa- 

 chusetts, and there is in this office a scrap book containing 

 considerable such literature, covering the period from 1888 

 to the present time ; also there are in the office library the 

 publications of other States on this subject. Persons wish- 

 ing to study into the matter more fully will no doubt find 

 it worth while to examine the following publications : — 



' ' Report of the Commissioner of Agricultural and Manufacturing 

 Interests of the State of Vermont," 1889-90. 



* Between Oct. 8, 1900, and May 7, 1902, this office received by mail alone 

 :i,7K) applications for the catalogue. Of these, 921 applications were from our own 

 state; L,266, from the New England States; 858, from New York State ; and 66, 

 from beyond the bounds of our own country. All the States and Territories, except- 

 ing Nevada, were represented in these calls. A most noteworthy illustration of 

 the increase in number of calls owing to published information was witnessed 

 between the dates of March 25 and May 7, 1902, largely due, without doubt, to an 

 editorial in one of our monthly magazines, the number of requests by mail being 

 1,925. On Monday, March 31, tin' Dumber of requests was 196, while on the two 

 following days the cumber was 109 and 118 respectively. 



