®l)c ^ommonrucaltl) of iHa00acl)U0Ctt0. 



SIXTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. 



PAET I. 



REPORT or THE SECRETARY FOR THE TEAR 1917. 



To the Senate and Hoicse of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 



Massachusetts. 



To write the agricultural history of 1917 would be as difficult 

 as it is to write the political history of the same time, for our 

 perspective is so shortened by the near view that we are apt to 

 treat essentials as non-essentials, and vice versa. 



In the beginning of the year our nearness to the great war 

 was making itself felt in many ways, — prices of all com- 

 modities were going up; there was a general unrest in all 

 branches of industry; labor troubles were numerous; and our 

 government was striving to keep the country out of the general 

 conflagration that was devouring the world. Agriculture was 

 feeling the added burdens severely; not alone had crops been 

 uncertain, but materials common to the needs of agriculture 

 were increasing rapidly in price, and the labor market, never 

 too sure, was upset to a degree rarely experienced in our 

 country. 



Early in the spring the war came, and with it a demand upon 

 the agricultural resources of the country such as it had never 

 experienced before. We immediately became the allies of the 

 nations fighting Germany, and as such were bound to share our 

 bread with them. These nations, having borne the burden of 

 the battle for nearly three years, had reduced their agricultural 



