The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-01

Jan l. Griswold Drive. West Hartford and Il condition of progress, transition or decay, depending upon the farm CTS themselves to determine which 1t shall be-" declares $. Mclean Buckingham. state commissioner of agriculture in his year-end summary of the agricultural situation.
 "The past year has added to our fund of knowledge regarding the working of economic laws. In at least two commodities we have learned that q large crop can return the farmer less than a smaller one and would indicate that instead of q bumper crop bringing the farmer reward it is mora apt to exact a penalty.
 Perhaps the federal farm boards contention, that some control over production is advisable, deserves some consideration. Perhaps there is also possibility that our present system of marketing farm products could be improved upon.
 Farmers Have Responsibility
 ''The condition of agriculture of tomorrow will be determined by the farmers of to-day. While the part that you or I can play singly in stabiliz.lg agriculture Is negligible our collective efforts will determine whether agriculture Is to play a ma .iOr or minor part in the future his- tory of our state and nation It is no time to become apathetic. for apathy breeds Encouragement and induces inaction.
 "The world to-day is facing one of the most serious depressions it has ever known. The condition of agri- culture is one of the factors in that depression and history teaches us that agriculture has played an im- portant part in the rise and fall of many nations. From a purely selfish viewpoint the stabilization of agriculture will help each individu- al farmer, and at the same time it can materially assist in the stabili- zation of general business condi- tions.
 Crop Summary
 "While the past year has not been too kind to agriculture. still Connec- ticut farmers have not fared badly when their returns are compared with general business conditions and those faced by farmers in some other sections of the country. Con- necticut farm crops are estimated to have value this year of $29,91S,OO0 as compared with the farm value of $31.301. .OO0 in 1929. This represents difference of $1.3S3,O00, most of which is accounted for by the com- paratively high returns received for tobacco last year.
 "Yields this year were in many cases greater than in 1929 but the turn was lower per unit. This made the total value of several crops somewhat less than that received for st smaller crop last season.
 "The returns to the poultry indus try were only fairly satisfactory for the first six months of the year but since that time egg prices have sagsed well below the average prices of the last five years. In December eggs reached the lowest price for that month in the last eleven years, being twenty cents a dozen less than the last five-year average. While the returns per bird will be well below that of last year. the total return to the poultry industry will probably approximate that of 1929 as the focks of the state showed approx imately a ten per cent increase on November l, 1929 over the previous year.
 Dairy Income Steady
 
 greater surpluses this year than last but the fluid price held steady until Decebmer 18th when q drop of one cent per quart became effective. h. creased production and the reduced purchasing power of the consumer accounts for the large amount of milk having to be sold at surplus price.
 Publications are that the dairy men of the state received a slightly less gross return for their product but a net return comparable to 1929. Grain and labor costs hav2 been lower than those of last year and the dairy farmer who has had to buy replacements for his herd has done so more cheaply than in 1929 as the price of cows has dropped materially during the past year.
 "The tobacco crop of 1890 in spite of another bad hail storm was some- what above the average of the last five years in acres harvested. yield per acre and quality. The produc- tion this year is estimated at 3D. 105,0O0 pounds as compared With 28.496, 900 pounds in 1929. The total value of this crop is estimated at $12,00O,O 900 which is less than the value of last years crop but greater than the fve-year average. Broad leaf continues to be the most popu- lar type of tobacco grown in Con- necticut with a production estimated at 17,481,00O pounds. Havana seed follows with S,360.000 pounds and Shade with 6,264.00O pounds.
 Potato production showed a ma- terial increase this year as com- narad with last goa son hut the total fl