16 



but the market places are ready for use for the coming year. 

 During the winter an indoor market place has been conducted 

 under the auspices of the Farm Bureau. 



It seems doubtful if the city of Worcester can support as 

 many markets as this. It would probably be advisable if the 

 number were cut down to one or two until those have proved a 

 success. 



Conclusion. 



Certain tentative conclusions may be drawn from the first 

 year's experience in public markets in Massachusetts, which 

 should be of value to municipalities planning a further con- 

 tinuance of this experiment, 



/. Responsible Control. 

 If such markets are to succeed there must be some responsible 

 control. This is especially essential in order to get the markets 

 started. These markets will not start themselves. In many 

 towns, in 1917, the public market was very effectively handled 

 by the Public Safety Committee; in a few places the initiative 

 came from the women's club or chamber of commerce; in others 

 it was handled directly by the town or city government. The 

 war-garden movement gave the impetus needed to start these 

 markets in many towns, and as the war-garden movement was 

 handled by the public safety committees, it was natural that 

 the same agencies should handle the markets. But public safety 

 committees will not always exist, and the patriotic and unself- 

 ish work of the men who compose them cannot be a permanent 

 reliance for the management of these markets. If the demand 

 for these markets and their success is due merely to war con- 

 ditions, the question of their management after the war is not 

 important; but if they are to have a permanent place in the 

 system of marketing farm products, then some permanent or- 

 ganization must take over their control. Where markets are 

 located on leased property, such an organization as a chamber 

 of commerce can successfully and legitimately oversee them. 

 But the present statute in Massachusetts requires that certain 

 cities and towns shall set aside streets or squares for the use of 



