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REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 



Summary of the Work of the Department. 



The business of farming in Massachusetts has perhaps en- 

 joyed a greater degree of prosperity during the past year than 

 most other kinds of business. The long depression which has 

 hung over eastern farmers for more than a decade is beginning 

 to disappear. The increased freight rates on food products 

 brought into New England from great distances have thrown 

 a greater responsibility upon Massachusetts farmers, and in- 

 cidentally a greater opportunity. The possibilities of farming 

 in Massachusetts which thoughtful leaders have predicted for 

 some time are now beginning to manifest themselves, and 

 considerable acres of arable land which have not been in cul- 

 tivation for some time are now being brought back into active 

 use. This is a beginning of the rejuvenation of Massachusetts 

 agriculture. 



Farmers as a class are coming to realize the importance of a 

 near-by market, and the necessity of specializing so as to adapt 

 their particular kind of farming to the needs of the market and 

 the peculiarities of the physical conditions of our soils and land 

 surface. They have learned not to compete with the West in 

 the raising of crops for sale, such as wheat and corn, which can 

 be more economically grown in the great fertile stretches of the 

 West. The farmers who are specializing in the raising of 

 apples, garden truck, tobacco, onions, cranberries, poultry and 

 milk are now enjoying a degree of prosperity which bids fair 

 to encourage a rapid expansion in the production of these 

 specialties. 



The work of the Massachusetts Agricultural College and the 

 farm bureaus, as well as the impetus on the part of farmers 

 themselves for obtaining up-to-date information on modern 



