M.y. State Library 3/24/31. STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FARMS AND MARKETS ALBANY, April 11, 1923. To the Legislature: In accordance with the provisions of the statutes relating thereto, I have the honor to transmit herewith the Annual Report of the Department of Farms and Markets for the calendar year 1922. STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FARMS AND MARKETS BERNE A. PYRKE, Commissioner of Farms and Markets GEORGE E. HOGUE, Assistant Commissioner of Farms and Markets Branch offices: New York, Utica, Cortland, Rochester and Buffalo [4] REORGANIZED DEPARTMENT OF FARMS AND MARKETS NOW UNDER SINGLE HEAD - DUPLICATION ELIMINATED Statement by Commissioner of Farms and Markets Berne A. Pyrke on Consolidation of Bureaus and Department Service at Reduced Cost This department was organized in 1884, under the name of the Dairy Commission. Its original responsibility, as the name of the Commission implies, was limited to the products of the dairy. It started with humble beginnings and with a small personnel. From time to time the Legislature delegated to its care new activities with the result that at the present time, while it is not the largest department in the State, it undoubtedly covers the widest range of activities of any department of the State government. In 1893 the name of the department was changed to that of the Department of Agriculture and continued to bear that name until 1917, when there was a merger of several State agencies dealing with the production, regulation, and distribution of products of the soil and of foodstuffs in general. At that time there were consolidated into a single department the former Department of Agriculture, the Department of Foods and Markets, and the office of Superintendent of Weights and Measures, and there were also transferred to the reorganized department important responsibilities in connection with foods which previously had been carried by the Commissioner of Health. To the new consolidated department was given the name of Department of Farms and Markets, which still continues. Previous to 1917 the department had been under the direction of a single commissioner, appointed by the governor. During the early years, while the responsibilities of the department were few as compared with those of the present day, the department was conducted with skill, and usually with satisfaction to the people. This satisfactory result may possibly be referable to the fact that changes of administration were infrequent, and the commissioners in charge of the department had an opportunity not only to work out their plans, but to put them into effect and see them come to fruition. In the first twenty-four years of the life of the department there were but three commissioners, making the average tenure eight years. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that the period was one of stabilized political control in the State, there being no abrupt changes of administration. In 1910 there was ushered in a new political era marked by frequent changes of State control, which promptly reflected themselves in a disturbed |