ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 



STATION— 1931 



INTRODUCTION 

 F. J. Sievers, Director 



The present economic conditions which are making themselves felt in a 

 general industrial depression and consequent financial retrenchment, together 

 with the maturing of the provisions under the Purnell Act, have provided little 

 encouragement for the expansion of the service of the Experiment Station. 

 Instead, certain readjustments of a more or less drastic nature were deemed 

 necessary in the research program under way, and therefore several projects on 

 which work has been in progress for a considerable period are being temporarily 

 discontinued and the results prepared for publication. In other cases, through 

 special efforts in promoting closer cooperation between departments, it has been 

 possible to provide for the continuation of investigations that would otherwise 

 have been prematurely terminated wth the entire loss of previously expended 

 energy and funds. Provisions for closer cooperation are especially effective in 

 our relations with the United States Department of Agriculture through several 

 of its Bureaus. In evidence of this are the projects in tobacco disease investiga- 

 tions, cranberry culture and bog management problems, corn borer control serv- 

 ice, pasture management demonstrations and trials, and forage crop investiga- 

 tions, in all of which the relationships between the two agencies in question have 

 been so satisfactory that there remained little to be desired. 



While these developments in our program may not have made for the antic- 

 ipated expansion so urgently requested by the loyal supporters of the Station, 

 they, nevertheless, indicate progress of a desirable type. It is not unreasonable 

 that, because of the tremendous changes in our entire economic structure, there 

 should be equivalent readjustment in those research activities intended to exert 

 a beneficial influence on industry. Agricultural experiment stations, as a result 

 of their findings, have without question had a pronounced part in that increased 

 efficiency which is considered partially responsible for the lack of proper balance 

 in our entire industrial scheme. For a nation to be supplied to the point of super- 

 abundance in practically all commodities, and yet to be confronted with the 

 extreme sociological and economical problems facing its population today, is the 

 best evidence that we have not learned how to capitalize on the economic advan- 

 tages at our disposal. The real solution of this tremendous problem requires 

 research with a well-planned program of subsequent education; and our experi- 

 ment stations, as organized, may well consider that they have a responsibility 

 in this field. 



Certainly with the continued increase in the application of science to all in- 

 dustry, and especially to agriculture, there will be a consequent need for regula- 

 tion of employment to offset the lesser demand for labor resulting from the greater 

 efficiency in its producing power per unit of time. This should also express it- 

 self in a demand for a constructive and more wholesome program of recreation 

 to furnish an outlet for the proper utilization of increasing amounts of spare 

 time and unemployed energy, if we are to capitalize fully on the real profits from 



