No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xi 



While moisture conditions were good for starting the crop, 

 those who did not cut their hay early lost heavily from bad 

 weather at cutting time. The use of machinery in harvesting 

 our hay crop is making it possible for us to grow more each 

 year. The demand for home-grown hay is good, and prices 

 were high. 



The potato crop was large in size, but prices ruled low. This 

 was due to a bumper crop all over the country and as far as 

 prices were concerned, Massachusetts farmers fared better than 

 those of most other States. In some parts of Vermont and 

 New York, potatoes changed hands at 20 to 25 cents a bushel. 



The severe winter wiped out our peach crop entirely, and in 

 some places injured other fruit buds, such as plums, grapes and 

 small fruits. The apple crop, however, was exceptionally large, 

 and prices, except on the very best grades, were unsatisfactory. 



The corn crop was good in most cases and ripened well, 

 although in a few sections early frosts cut the crop somewhat. 

 Abundant moisture in the summer gave a good crop of ensilage 

 corn, and silos were well filled. 



Reclamation of Waste Land. 

 A great deal is being said and written about getting certain 

 classes of people in the cities back on the land, and a large 

 number of well meaning but impractical people are advocating 

 such measures, for which they are even going so far as to require 

 State aid. These people do not seem to realize that it requires 

 just as much training and experience, and perhaps a little more, 

 to make successful farmers as it does to ensure success in any 

 other profession. Any attempts of this sort should be confined 

 to persons having had previous agricultural experience, or who 

 have combined some system of training with their regular 

 work, which would in some degree fit them for life on the 

 farms. One feature in connection with this question is worth 

 considering, and that is placing our unused lands in a condition 

 where it will be possible for people of moderate means to take 

 them up. Such work should be done by State institutions 

 alread}' in existence, as, for example, Bridgewater State Farm 

 and other penal institutions. Land should be acquired, cleared, 

 drained, and made ready for cultivation, and then sold for a 



