viii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



variety in food products. It would therefore be folly for Mas- 

 sachusetts ever to attempt to specialize in one crop. We 

 should not attempt to become the greatest dairy State, or the 

 greatest potato State, but rather, by adapting ourselves to the 

 demands of our markets, seek to produce a higher per acre 

 production of those crops which will return to us the most 

 money. 



General agricultural conditions are constantly improving, 

 that is, our farmers in most sections are using machinery as far 

 as possible in their farm operations, and are practicing crop 

 rotation; are making better uses of fertilizers and their ap- 

 plications; are using better strains of seed; and are striving 

 constantly to improve the quality of seed, breeds of cattle, and 

 the fertility of the soil. At best, all of this is a slow operation, 

 and immediate results are not possible. A prominent market 

 gardener recently said that it took him five years to bring new 

 land into a state of profitable productiveness, and this, in spite 

 of tlie fact that he was using large quantities of manure each 

 year. 



Massachusetts agriculture has seen great changes in the past 

 one hundred years, chiefly owing to the severe competition of 

 States more favored than we are by climate, soil or trans- 

 portation facilities for the production and distribution of some 

 particular crop; but in spite of the loss of some crops and a 

 great reduction in dairying, the State has advanced steadily in 

 the value of its agricultural products since 1870, as the following 

 figures will show: — 



1879, $24,160,881 



1889, 28,072,500 



1899, 42,298,274 



1909, 60,000,000 



We are fast moving from extensive to intensive agriculture, 

 and several of our counties are among the most productive in 

 the United States, based on the per acre production of im- 

 proved land. 



The values of farm products for our counties on this basis 

 are as follows: — 



