ANNUAL REPORT, 1936 45 



DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS 

 Alexander E. Cance in Charge 



Decentralization of Industry and Part-Time Farming in Massa- 

 chusetts. (David Rozman.) One of the main factors determining the extent 

 to which the development of part-time farming will progress in various sections 

 of the Commonwealth is associated with the trend in location of industrial 

 plants in smaller communities as against larger populated centers. To obtain 

 a picture of this trend as it has developed in the past a study was made of over 

 200 cities and towns in Massachusetts for which figures were available. The 

 results are presented in graphic form, indicating for each town or city the 

 historical trend since 1837 of the number of employees, population, and the 

 number of industrial plants. Likewise statistics for the last 20 years were com- 

 piled, indicating the trends for 24 major Massachusetts industries in number 

 of establishments, wages, wage-earners, and value of products. The results of 

 this study are being published in the form of a Station bulletin. 



Recent Changes in Consumer Demand for Milk and Some Factors 

 Affecting It. (David Rozman.) This project has been initiated recently 

 and the work is just beginning. Within recent years there have been con- 

 siderable changes in consumer demand for milk in various markets of the State. 

 Some of these changes have been due to the general trend in consumption of 

 milk and dairy products in connection with changing consumption habits. 

 Other important changes have occurred in connection with business fluctuations, 

 unemployment, and reduced purchasing power of the population in various 

 communities. In addition, there has been a considerable increase in the extent 

 of milk regulation. It is the objective of this project to ascertain as far as 

 possible how each of these new developments has affected the consumption and 

 demand for milk. 



In attempting to collect the essential information for the project several 

 methods of procedure will be followed. In a few individual markets it is 

 proposed to make a survey of milk consumption among a group of individual 

 families. The State Milk Control Board will yield considerable information 

 which will be analyzed in the light of the present study. Likewise supple- 

 mentary information will be obtained from the examination and study of data 

 available in the offices of local milk inspectors and in the record books of 

 milk dealers. 



A Study of Farm Organization and Soil Management Practices in 

 Massachusetts in Relation to Agricultural Conservation and Adjust- 

 ment, with Special Reference to the Formulation of a Program under 

 the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. (David Rozman 

 in cooperation with the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Farm 

 Management and Agronomy.) This project was undertaken last summer at 

 the request of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and the Agricultural Ad- 

 justment Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture and 

 was in some respects a continuation of the cooperative Agricultural Adjustment 

 project carried on under similar arrangements a year ago. The particular 

 problem this summer was to study hay and pasture improvement practices, 

 to provide a better factual basis for determining desirable adjustments in the 

 agriculture of individual farming areas and for the administration and operation 

 of the 1937 land conservation program. 



The investigational work of the project was carried on under two divisions: 



