ANNUAL REPORT, 1947-48 5 



are established but once a year and since actual market values are published 

 regularly, average meat values at primary markets— Boston, for example — 

 during the month of November or December would be a more equitable value to 

 apply. 



For other personal property, especially machinery, a schedule of values could 

 be devised similar in structure to that used for determining excise taxes on motor 

 vehicles. Much machinery appears to be overlooked altogether, and one reason 

 for this may be the difficulty of determining a reasonable value. 



Marketing of Hatching Eggs. (A. A. Brown, B. E. Brown, and J. A. Ward.) 

 Although not all the field schedules have been taken, some preliminary obser- 

 vations can be made. 



The hatching-egg industry is made up of several components: broiler-hatching, 

 flock replacement, foundation stock - R.O.P. 



Under some conditions eggs from any mated pens go into broiler-hatching. 

 Generally, however, buyers locally or in the principal outlet area — -the Del-Mar- 

 Va peninsula — determine the matings. The constant effort maintained by the 

 broiler industry towards improving the product it sells adds to the hazard of 

 specifying preferred matings. If producers of broiler-hatching eggs can anticipate 

 these demands, their marketing problems become fewer. On a slow market, 

 matings rather than price regulate the sale of broiler-hatching stock. Currently, 

 stock of Barred Rock males mated with New Hampshire Red females is preferred 

 by broiler-raisers. Since there is now some market for broiler-hatching eggs 

 the year round, poultrymen with this stock are in a favorable position marketwise. 



Seasonally the broiler-raising industry offers some opportunities to other 

 Massachusetts flock owners who choose to take the risks involved. During 

 late winter and in the spring when hatchings are being made here for replacement 

 stock, the broiler territory is often an outlet for cockerels. During the summer 

 and early fall the demands for hatching eggs are such that heavy fowl matings 

 other than the Rock-Hampshire cross more readily. Both of these operations 

 involve a large element of uncertainty. Since both operations are supplementary 

 to the production of replacement stock, the possibility of large gains has out- 

 weighed the possibility of smaller losses in recent years. 



Marketing of Massachusetts Potatoes. (R. A. Fitzpatrick, A. A. Brown, 

 A. A. Arnold and A. C. Chatel.) Preliminary work incidental to providing 

 adequate data on supply has been completed. The make-up of the industry, 

 the acreage grown, and the varieties planted, underwent pronounced shifts during 

 the war years. 



Many small growers came into the industry or under the support price program 

 became identifiable. The number of potato growers increased from 10,545 to 

 15,313 between 1939 and 1944. The number of small growers in 1945 was 14,000. 

 Most of the increase in number appeared in this group. 



Plantings increased 7,000 acres, nearly 50 percent, between these census years. 

 Between 1942 and 1943 commercial acreage as measured by P & MA data in- 

 creased about 3,000. In subsequent years some further addition was made so 

 that by 1944 commercial acreage had increased by 4,000 out of a total shift of 

 7,000. 



The noticeable increase in Katahdin acreage between 1939 and 1946 was at 

 the expense of both Cobbler and Green Mountains, although Green Mountain 

 acreage leveled off after 1944. Acreage of Chippewa, another newcomer during 

 the thirties, was also greater than that of Cobblers by 1945 and has held there. 



