104 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



There is one other plant for which your climate and many of 

 your soils are admirably adapted. I refer to the osier willow. 

 The article now very extensively used for basket making is 

 imported mostly from abroad and large prices are paid for it, 

 while there is no reason why we might not raise it to perfection 

 and with a fair profit. With this plant as a cultivated crop I 

 have no practical experience, but I have made it a special study ; 

 have sought out old men from abroad who have cultivated and 

 worked it all their lives, and have learned many a curious fact 

 with regard to it which, if this were the proper place, I should 

 be glad to allude to. I hope your society will encourage experi- 

 ments with this plant, and give the results to the world. 



There is also another plant which I would suggest to you 

 the importance of cultivating so far as to satisfy yourselves with 

 regard to it ; and that is the Chinese sugar cane, a plant which 

 belongs to the family of grasses, lately introduced among us, 

 and which I am inclined to think will prove to be an exceed- 

 ingly valuable addition to our cultivated crops. It is much like 

 Indian corn in appearance, when young* and like broomcorn 

 when arrived at maturity. It is unquestionably very rich in 

 saccharine matter. I have seen fine molasses made from it, and 

 experiments made and in process have demonstrated the practi- 

 cability of crystalizing it into sugar. It is worthy of careful 

 experiment, particularly as a forage plant to sow in drills and 

 cut up green for stock, as- we do green corn. Its cultivation is 

 like that of Indian corn, and it will grow and flourish wherever 

 that will. 



I have mentioned these special crops as, among others, worthy 

 of the encouragement of your society. You may exert a direct 

 practical and powerful influence in introducing or extending 

 their cultivation, and upon the agriculture of the whole island. 

 I need not remind you that the object of an agricultural society 

 is not merely to make a show, or to delight the eye or please the 

 fancy. We must be progressive, and all true progress requires . 

 constant labor and activity. Let every farmer on this island 

 feel that he has a duty to perform, a duty which he owes to 

 himself, to this society, and to the State, and he will derive the 

 practical advantages now offered in the form of associated effort. 



