ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD. 347 



exception of the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary 

 of the Commonwealth, the president of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, and state inspector of fertilizers, who 

 are members by virtue of their office, and three others, ap- 

 pointed by the governor and council, whose terms of service 

 continue three years, one of the three being changed or re- 

 appointed each year. Each of regularly incorporated agri- 

 cultural societies receiving the bounty of the State, has the 

 power of choosing one member of the Board, whose term 

 of service also continues three years. At present there are 

 thirty-one of these societies, and, of course, when the Board 

 is full, there are thirty-one members chosen by the farmers 

 themselves, three holding offices by appointment, and five 

 ex officio. 



From the manner in which the Board is constituted, it is 

 apparent that it must naturally form a pretty fair representa- 

 tion of all varieties of agricultural knowledge in the State. 

 A majority of the members selected by the societies, made up 

 as these associations are, of the most intelligent practical 

 farmers and friends of the farming interest amons: us, will 

 always be likely to be practical, intelligent farmers ; Avhile it 

 w^ould be strange if there were not a larger or smaller number 

 of those who would commonly, though undeservedly, be called 

 fancy or amateur farmers, and some men of scientific attain- 

 ment. This, it seems to me, is just as it should be. All these 

 classes actually exist, and they should all be represented in the 

 Board, that their various opinions maybe compared with each 

 other and subjected to the test of the common-sense and sound 

 judgment which we may reasonably expect to find in a body 

 chosen in the manner described. In this way we may gather 

 information from every source. 



In a convention of farmers which met at the State House in 

 1851, and out of which the Board of Agriculture originally 

 grew, it was resolved: " That inasmuch as agriculture is the 

 chief occupation of her citizens, the Commonwealth in the 

 organization of its government, should be provided with a 

 department of agriculture, with offices commensurate with the 

 importance of the duties to be discharged, of the abilities to 

 be required, and of the labors to be jjerformed." 



The Act establishing the Board was passed in 1852, and 



