PREFACE 



The returns of the Agricultural Societies, though in many cases 

 less full and complete than they have sometimes been, present an 

 unusual variety of suggestive papers in the form of addresses and 

 essays, while the statements of exhibitors and competitors for pre- 

 miums are, in some cases, of a high order of merit. The value of 

 this part of the volume depends very much upon the character of 

 the material furnished by the societies in their returns to this 

 office. If they are meagre and below the requisite standard of excel- 

 lence, it becomes very difficult, by any art of the compiler, to make 

 them, what they should be, interesting, practical and instructive. 



It has been my endeavor, during the last twenty years, to impress 

 upon the officers of the various societies, the importance of greater 

 care and attention, to secure full and valuable reports from the 

 committees having the different parts of the exhibitions in charge. 

 That these efforts have not been wholly in vain is sufficiently mani- 

 fest in the excellence of the material in the following pages. Start- 

 ling novelties are not expected, but sound common sense, clearness, 

 and definiteness of statement, and honesty in reporting the results 

 of experiments, are indispensable. The want of minuteness of 

 statement has been the chief reason for excluding some papers 

 which, but for this, would have appeared in this volume. The use 

 of a "load" of manure, for example, in the cultivation of certain 

 crops, is altogether too indefinite, and it conveys no accurate idea 

 to a person in a distant locality. 



I am indebted, for the lifelike drawing and engraving of " Fear- 

 naught," which forms the frontispiece to the Report, to his owner. 

 Col. Henry S. Eussell, of Home Farm, Milton. This celebrated horse 

 is claimed as a son of " Young Morrill," although his high breeding, 

 as well as the faculty of imparting to his colts his own speed and 



