Xo. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xxix 



late frosts of J\lii_v killed mncli early ])laiitc(l seed, while a 

 very severe frost on the night of September 12 damaged a 

 large amount of the unripened grain; with these two dis- 

 asters, added to the wet weather of October, one wonders how 

 any corn was matured in the State. 



All classes were well competed for. Flint corn was, on the 

 whole, harder than dent, but some very fine dent Avas ex- 

 hibited. Professor Taylor of Durham, I^. H., judged the 

 contest. The money for prizes and ribbons for this show 

 was drawn from the special exhibition appropriation. 



Wild Deer. 



So much complaint has been received by the Board and 

 also by the Fisheries and Game Commission that it would 

 seem advisable for the State to enact >some drastic law regard- 

 ing these animals which are such a menace to the orchard 

 industry. 



The State paid $19,977.29 to our fruit growers for dam- 

 ages by deer in 1913, but this money does not in any way 

 compensate for losses sustained. 



A bill, indorsed by many of our farmers in the western 

 part of the State, will be presented to the Legislature this 

 year, calling for a longer open season on deer, and also giv- 

 ing to the farmer the right to use the meat of the animals he 

 may kill. 



The only way we can hope to get relief from this deer 

 nuisance will no doubt be by the extermination of them, 

 but how best to accomplish this result is difficult to decide. 

 Certainly one thing is necessary, and that is to prevent deer 

 from private parks escaping to our wild lands, and a law 

 requiring all private-deer parks to be fenced will be abso- 

 lutely necessary. Massachusetts should never become a reser- 

 vation for deer, and any law looking toward the abatement 

 of this nuisance would be acceptable to this Board. 



Massachusetts Dairymen's Show. 

 This recently organized association is doing splendid work 

 in dairying, and this year the Board has given it $560 for 

 show purposes. The association has held two exhibitions, 



