xii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



farmer, closer communication with sources of supply and 

 distribution centers, and a larger, fuller life for the individual 

 and the community. 



Dairying and Sheep Raising. 

 As we turn to the business of dairying, present conditions 

 forcibly impress upon your secretary the fact that the placing 

 of this industry on a basis which will be financially profitable 

 to the producer is the problem of the hour. This is fundamental 

 and must be accomplished if the industry itself is to be pre- 

 served. In this connection emphasis should be laid upon the 

 necessity of a discrimination on the part of the public in favor 

 of near-by Massachusetts milk of excellent quality and cleanli- 

 ness, rather than the milk from neighboring States, of less 

 certain quality and of necessity older, owing to distance of 

 shipment. A valuable and practical suggestion is the labeling 

 of milk produced in Massachusetts. This, coupled with the 

 education of the consumer to the real value of milk, which is 

 being promoted by this Board, should greatly aid the situation. 

 Another point; the dairyman should raise his own cows. The 

 heaviest cost in raising a cow is during the first three months. 

 Pasturage is cheap, and upon reaching the age of from two 

 years to thirty months, they should freshen, and thereafter 

 pay their way. And in this connection your secretary would 

 urge upon the dairymen the value and practicability of tho 

 "neighborhood sire," the co-operative purchase and use of a 

 pure-bred animal of good descent. In view of the recognized 

 fact that the sire is half of the herd, and that the majority 

 of our dairymen have not the necessary capital to purchase 

 such an animal as would meet the requirements, this is a most 

 feasible solution. At the present time beef is higher than it 

 has been at any time since the civil war. With this fact in mind 

 the advantages of raising stock are even greater than other- 

 wise, as the dairyman can in no way suffer loss, as, should an 

 animal prove for any reason unfit for the dairy herd, there is a 

 profit to be received from its sale as beef. Adverse as are con- 

 ditions for dairying in this State at the present time, strict as 

 the laws and regulations for the production of milk have been 

 made, the dairyman should avail himself of these opportunities 



