No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. 37 



State Ownership of Stallions. 



With the continued shipment of horses to Europe, we are 

 more than ever brought face to face with the problem of the 

 depletion of our horses and of the necessity of keeping up our 

 stock, particularly in the east. Our farmers are paying too 

 much for horses, which are continually being renewed at great 

 expense. 



In INIaine your secretary found the farmers of Aroostook 

 County alive to the situation, and they are now breeding horses 

 of heavy draft type in some sections in quite large numbers, 

 and the farmers' interest in this subject is being continually 

 strengthened. In one section over 100 mares had been bred 

 the past season, and the use of pure-bred stallions is on the 

 increase. 



The Board now stands where it did last year on this question, 

 and advocates the passage of the same bill providing for the 

 purchasing and ownership of draft stallions by the State. 



Alfalfa. 

 We are glad to report that this important crop is decidedly 

 on the increase in the State and that the propaganda for its 

 more continued use is becoming effective. There are at pres- 

 ent approximately 1,500 acres in the State and more is being 

 planted each year. Thanks are due to the good work of the 

 county agents, the New England Alfalfa Growers' ^Association, 

 and many individuals in spreading the gospel of more and 

 better alfalfa. 



Sheep and Swine. 

 While a law designed to protect sheep from dogs will un- 

 doubtedly have some good effect, the process of bringing 

 back the sheep industry to Massachusetts will be a long 

 one. No section of the country can be expected for long to 

 grow a crop or produce an animal in which there is no profit. 

 We believe, however, that the right principles of conducting 

 sheep-raising operations have not been practiced here, and until 

 these are tried the truth about this business will not be known. 

 Sheep operations should be conducted on a large enough scale 



