SECRETARY'S REPORT. 7 



and have lost an cxccsdingly valnablc fertilizer in a liquid 

 manure wliicli lias run in such al)undance that a man, boy and 

 horse would have been constantly occupied in distributing it 

 over the farm, had the. appropriation been sufficient to allow of 

 their employment. This liquid manure, thus applied, would 

 give the Board the power of increasing the productions of the 

 farm many fold, and of improving, if not enriching, the lands 

 which were in a comparatively poor condition when its opera- 

 tions commenced, while its removal would be a sanitary measure 

 of great importance to the comfort and Avcll-being of the institu- 

 tion. Moreover, five or six milch cows, in addition to the present 

 number, might be wintered without difficulty on the hay raised 

 upon the farm ; and these cows are even now greatly needed to 

 enable the Board to supply the school with milk, while this 

 additional number would considerably increase the facilities for 

 the economical management of the farm the coming year ; but 

 the want of the means to purchase them has compelled the 

 committee having charge of that department to defer it to a 

 more favorable time. Judicious expenditure is true economy, 

 but the committee did not feel authorized to incur a debt. 



The year has, however, on the whole, been a prosperous one 

 at the farm ; the crops show a considerable increase over those 

 of former years, and the experiments, many of which will be 

 found to be very interesting and valuable, have been continued. 

 The reports of the committees which have had charge of special 

 departments at the farm, will be found on a subsequent page, 

 and contain the details of the management of the farm for the 

 year. ' 



It should be borne in mind that the management of the State 

 Farm was not one of the objects originally contemplated, when 

 the Board of Agriculture was established, and the expenses of 

 its management are not properly a part of the legitimate 

 expenses of the Board ; nor are they hi any respect expenses 

 incident to the establishment of the Board or to the transfer of 

 the farm into the hands of the Board, since the actual expense 

 of the farm to the State is no greater than it was previous to 

 the transfer. On the contrary, it is less, and has been less every 

 year since the operations of the Board commenced. The ques- 

 tion of its present management was mainly a question of policy ; 

 whether it would not be more for the interest of the State that 



