SECRETARY'S REPORT. 49 



crop has been found to be very lucrative in many sections, and 

 many inquiries had been made in relation to it by practical cul- 

 tivators in Massacliusetts, who had no means of acquiring the 

 information they desired on the subject. More than five thou- 

 sand copies of the first of these Reports have been called for, 

 and nearly as many of the second. 



It must be obvious that original investigations, if they are to 

 be of any practical value, should be subjected to the test of 

 repeated and careful experiment before they are proposed as 

 examj)les for imitation. Otherwise their publication would 

 inevitably produce very injurious effects. False teachings are 

 infinitely worse than none at all. To mislead the inquiring 

 traveller will very often force him to retrace his weary steps 

 with the loss of all his time and labor. 



It has, therefore, seemed to be the most rational course to 

 attend first to matters of immediate practical importance, leav- 

 ing those which required more elaborate discussion for future 

 consideration. 



During the past year more than usual interest has been 

 awakened upon different subjects connected with agriculture, 

 by the offer of large and generous premiums by the Massa- 

 chusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, and much 

 information has been elicited with regard to the practical 

 use of farm implements, and particularly the mowing machine. 



Probably the introduction of improved farm implements into 

 general use would lend a more efficient aid to the progress of 

 practical agriculture than all the books that could be written 

 on farming. Books disseminate ideas. Implements success- 

 fully operated prove these ideas to be of practical value, thus 

 preparing the minds of men to give a favorable reception to 

 other ideas, when presented to them. Besides this, tliey are 

 highly beneficial, both in their immediate effects and in the new 

 ideas of improvement they suggest by their use. 



The progress of agriculture may be measured by the increased 

 call for new and better farm implements, as the advance of civ- 

 ilization in a community is shown by the greater demand for 

 comforts and luxuries among its members. 



There was a time in the history of American farming when 

 labor was cheap, when strong limbs and the power of endurance 

 were the only things sought for in the " hired man," and when 



