No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xv 



A glance at this table shows that we produced in 1910 

 more than $60,000,000 worth of agricultural products, and 

 it is fair to say that now we are well above the $75,000,000 

 mark, although a study of the whole question proves that 

 most of our crops, with the exception of cranberries, flowers 

 and some vegetables, are produced for our own consumption. 

 In other words, Massachusetts is not agriculturally an ex- 

 porting State. In fact, most of the large amount of money 

 we spend for agricultural products goes to other States, 

 since we import about three-fourths of the agricultural prod- 

 ucts here consumed. This brings up the important question 

 of the development of our now unproductive lands, of which 

 w^e have an abundance in the State, and upon which might 

 be produced a large proportion of the food we now buy else- 

 where. Much of this land lies within easy reach of Boston, 

 while large tracts are near other centers of population. To 

 be sure, much of this land, when improved, would only be 

 good for producing hay, but we need more hay in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



There is now an appropriation of $15,000 by the State for 

 the drainage of wet land, and this Board is made respon- 

 sible jointly with the State Board of Health for carrying 

 out the purposes of the act. Some parts of the act are not 

 practical, inasmuch as they require the State to work the 

 land after draining, and to grow crops which can only be 

 sold to State institutions. There is no question that the land, 

 once drained, will grow crops, and while it might be desira- 

 ble for the State to gi'ow crops in this way as an experiment, 

 it does not seem necessary. A better method of carrying on 

 this work would be for the State to drain some large tracts 

 of land and assess the costs on the landowners, spreading 

 them over a long term of years where they are willing to 

 pay, and where they are not, to buy the land and sell it 

 again to those who want farm land. Prison labor should be 

 used for reclamation purposes as the act provides, since often 

 the labor in our prisons is not now utilized to its fullest ca- 

 pacity, and it would seem that this would be one of the best 

 ways of using such help in constructive work. A bill cover- 



