BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 



STATION 



1927 AND 1928 



INTRODUCTION 

 F. J. Sievers, Director 



The last half century has seen vast progress in all lines of industrial 

 development and this applies with special significance to agriculture. Many 

 agricultural practices, still in the experimental stage no more than a few 

 decades ago, are now so commonly accepted that they have been intro- 

 duced into every day farm use. The more general introduction of scien- 

 tific methods into various phases of industry for purposes of greater 

 efi'iciency and service has made necessary pronounced readjustments of 

 formerly well established practices. Such modifications not infrequently 

 result in temporary hardships, the degree of which is more or less pro- 

 portional to the rapidity with which these adjustments are made. Changes 

 in agricultural jjractices have been very pronounced since the world war, 

 and the hardships which may be referred to as "growing pains" have 

 been especially evident during these last several years. Drastic readjust- 

 ments in an industry as decidedly basic as agriculture can not help but 

 be felt in most other activities, and as a result have their effect on the 

 social and economic life of the entire consuming public. 



The changes that agriculture has undergone in recent years can be 

 ratlier definitely associated with some very interesting social and econom- 

 ic adjustments. 



They are making it no longer necessary to farm much of the marginal 

 land which in the past, even at its best, was unable to supply more than 

 the bare necessities of life for the immediate farmer and his family. 



They are having a pronounced effect on the occupation of the marginal 

 farmer who, due to a lack of interest or ability, is not keeping pace with 

 the new developments and as a result can no longer produce agricultural 

 jiroducts at a figure that assures the net profit required for a satisfactory 

 living. 



They are releasing for use in other industrial fields a large amount of 

 labor whose service, because of more efficient practice, is no longer re- 

 quired in agricultural production. 



They have, because of increased comjietition, encouraged nuire thorough 

 consideration of consumer's demand which has resulted in a more ade- 

 quate supply of high quality agricultural products. 



They are making farm life more attractive through the introduction 

 of machinery as a substitute for hand labor, thus eliminating much of 

 the former drudgery. 



They are gradually decreasing the destructive competition in agricul- 

 ture that comes from the farmer who unknowingly produces many products 

 at an actual loss. The greater complexity in the industry today is elimin- 

 ating the farmer who is not willing or able to keep the required accoTints 

 and records showing cost of production. 



They are intensifying farm work to the point where it requires less time 

 to perform a day's labor than formerly, thus making farm life more 



