SECRETARY'S REPORT. 283 



many other classes of society also. It may with truth be said, 

 that there was never more enthusiasm in this department of 

 practical science, than at the present moment. Old prejudices 

 are fast passing away before a thoughtful and candid consider- 

 ation of the suggestions of sl^ilful observers and careful reason- 

 ers. Farmers' clubs are becoming more and more common in 

 the small towns throughout the State. Lectures upon the 

 sciences connected with agriculture give opportunities of obtain- 

 ing useful information, and large audiences listen attentively to 

 the principles unfolded to them. The volumes distributed by 

 the State were never so extensively called for as at the present 

 time, the edition usually published hitherto not being adequate 

 to supply half the demandsi Our farmers are not now, as they 

 once were, too much afraid of falling into error, to be willing 

 to seek for truth wherever it may be found, nor of ascertain- 

 ing by careful experiment the best modes of treating their lands 

 or their crops. 



As might be expected, the interest in the county agricultural 

 societies has increased, and their exhibitions were never better 

 attended, or more successful, than during the past year. Large 

 numbers of new members have been added, and the aggregate 

 amount of receipts both from their contributions and from other 

 sources, has been much greater than in any former year. The 

 officers of the societies iji every part of the State, without doubt, 

 perform tbeir duties faithfully, and a laudable spirit of pride 

 and competition prevails in the different sections of the Common- 

 wealth, while the greater system and harmony of action, result- 

 ing from the organization of the Department of Agriculture, 

 in which every society 4ias a direct representation, renders all 

 more efficient and serviceable in developing the resources of 

 the State. The financial condition of the societies, together 

 with many of the details of their operations in the distribution 

 of premiums, during the past year, will be found in the Appen- 

 dix, to which reference is respectfully made. 



Massachusetts, with an area of only 7,250 square miles, has a 

 productive industry creating a value of more than three hundred 

 and fifty millions of dollars a year, or nearly a million a day. 

 In this unexampled prosperity agriculture takes the lead, the 

 annual value of its productions exceeding that of any other 

 branch by over eleven millions of dollars. Every thing which 



