No. 123.] DIVISION OF INFORMATION. 41 



advisable to list farm properties for sale within this State and 

 issue this list in bulletin form. The first of such bulletins since 

 1911 was issued in May, 1921. 



This bulletin is intended as a handbook for farmers, adver- 

 tising purchasable farm lands, putting them in direct touch 

 with owners, and eliminating all unnecessary costs to prospec- 

 tive buyers and sellers through fees exacted by agents; also 

 serving to correct the widespread impression outside of the 

 State that Massachusetts still offers abandoned farms for rec- 

 lamation. 



Owing to the high freight rates and increased values of 

 western farm lands, the advantages of Massachusetts farms 

 were set forth through a series of advertisements in several of 

 the leading agricultural papers during the spring of 1921. As 

 a result of this there were 300 requests for literature relative to 

 farms for sale, 200 of these coming from farmers of the Middle 

 West. Twenty of the farms thus listed have been reported 

 sold. 



High ScJiool Boys on Farms. 



The work of placing high school boys on farms during the 

 summer season was so successful in 1920 that the Department 

 recommended its continuance during the past year. There was, 

 however, no such labor shortage in the spring of 1921 as there 

 had been a year previous, so that while a small appropriation 

 was made in the first appropriation act to allow for prepara- 

 tory work during the winter and early spring, it was deemed 

 unnecessary to make any further appropriation. It was, there- 

 fore, impossible to conduct camps for boys or to place individ- 

 ual boys on farms during the spring and summer. Numerous 

 applications were received from individual boys, from school 

 authorities in cities and larger towns, and from farmers in 

 various localities, but under the circumstances these applica- 

 tions could not be met. The camp formerly conducted under 

 State authority at Hatfield in the Connecticut valley was 

 opened by the teacher who had supervised it for the State, 

 and was continued throughout the summer under a private 

 arrangement. The abandonment of this undertaking seems to 

 be highly regrettable, because it was of direct advantage to 



