34 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



seems to have developed into a contest between one or two 

 large dealers who controlled the stores, on the one hand, and 

 the smaller dealers who made house to house deliveries, on the 

 other. Under this system the milk at the stores was sold 

 below recognized costs, and does not seem to have in any great 

 degree settled even this one question. 



Comparatively few of our farmers are doing a Boston busi- 

 ness. Those who have stayed in the milk business have done 

 so largely on account of local conditions, which seemed to offer 

 a better market than Boston, where competition was keen with 

 the other States. Those of our farmers who seem to be making 

 a living at dairying are those who have special markets and 

 are generally running other things with their dairy business. 

 I do not wish to be understood as saying that dairying cannot 

 be made profitable in this State, but the present indications are 

 that unless the public are willing to pay more for milk there 

 will be considerably less of it than usual, and the price will 

 automatically rise. 



Another phase of the dairy business which should be referred 

 to at this time is in reference to the production of stock for the 

 future. The depletion of dairy animals all over the world calls 

 for decided action on the part of this country to make good the 

 loss. We know that Europe has lost enormously all kinds of 

 live stock, and will look to America to restock her farms at the 

 close of the war. America should seize the opportunities to 

 render to the world a service for which she is peculiarly fitted. 

 Pure-bred animals should be raised in larger numbers, for it is 

 this stock alone which would interest the buyers of the older 

 countries. The financing of such propositions will no doubt be 

 difficult, but if each one of our dairymen could raise a few such 

 dairy animals the aggregate would be enormous. The dairyman 

 must supplement his milk business with that of better-grade or 

 pure-bred stock, for it does not seem possible to conduct the 

 milk business profitably alone. 



Poultry. 

 In many respects the poultryman has followed the dairyman, 

 and has reduced his operations to the lowest possible ebb. But 

 we have reached the danger point much more quickly in the 



