No. 123.] REPORT OF COMMISSIONER. 33 



2. Tlie Working Out of a Program covering a Period of Two, 

 Three or Four Years. — This retains the interest of those who 

 have previously done this work. We have found that simply 

 to repeat what has previously been done causes loss of en- 

 thusiasm. 



3. The Training of Demonstration and Judging Teams. — We 

 feel that no exhibit is complete unless teams are given an op- 

 portunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the work they are 

 doing, and to show the visiting public that they have the ability 

 to judge the quality of the products shown. Inter-town and 

 city contests have been held to select the county champions. 

 County teams representing the various projects were sent to 

 the New England Fair at Worcester for competitive tryouts to 

 determine the teams which should represent the State at the 

 Eastern States Exposition. Ten States were represented at this 

 exposition, and I might say in this connection that out of 22 

 possibilities, Massachusetts teams won first place in 11 of the 

 22. The winning of 11 first prizes out of a possible 22 shows 

 not only that there must have been local interest, but that the 

 teams representing Massachusetts must have been well trained 

 by the county leaders. 



The Department of Agriculture money has been used for 

 prizes as follows: — 



Washington trip. Banners. 



Camp. Pins. 



Books. Printing (certificates, etc.). 



Exhibits. 



Exhibitions and Contests. 



At the first annual Public Winter Meeting of the State De- 

 partment of Agriculture, held in conjunction with the union 

 meeting of the leading Massachusetts agricultural organizations 

 at Horticultural Hall, Boston, February 11 to 14, inclusive, 

 prizes aggregating $352 were offered for exhibits of field corn 

 and $150 in prizes for vegetable exhibits. 



In addition, later in the year, two orcharding contests were 

 held: one, a "Thinning Contest," in which prizes amounting to 

 $115 were offered, and the other, a "Marketing Contest," in 

 which an assignment of $150 was made. 



