340 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



into an association or club, and establish a weekly meeting dur- 

 ing the most favorable season of the year. 



Let an admission fee be fixed to defray necessary expenses. 



Let the objects of these meetings be : 



1. To discuss agricultural matters amongst themselves. 

 This they could readily do, of course. Each man could 



state his own experiences and tell in what he had succeeded 

 and in what he had failed ; and from this source alone much 

 useful information might be imparted. 



2. Let these clubs provide themselves with such agricultural 

 works as shall be thought advantageous. These might be read 

 at the meetings and commented upon, and this would form 

 another source of interest and improvement. 



This might be carried so far in time, should the resources of 

 the club admit of it, that a good agricultural library might be 

 formed of great value to the members. 



3. A series of lectures on agriculture, agricultural chemistry, 

 geology, etc., on a larger or smaller scale, should be established. 



For this purpose, a suitable hall should be obtained, and all 

 persons invited or admitted by paying a small fee. To these 

 lectures and meetings, farmers might carry their wives and 

 children ; they would form a sort of lyceum, become one of the 

 permanent institutions of society, and be an important instru- 

 mentality for diffusing the desired knowledge. 



4. Connected with the'se associations, classes might be formed, 

 composed of all the younger part of the farmers and any others 

 who had the ambition and enterprise to undertake it, for the 

 study of some text-book on agriculture. There are such works, 

 many of them, at the present day. There is one particularly, 

 which, having fallen under our notice, we can speak of with 

 great confidence. It is called the Progressive Farmer, written 

 by Prof. Nash, a member of the Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture. 



In this work, the general subject is presented in such a plain 

 and concise manner as to be perfectly accessible to every one. 

 There is not a young farmer of common capacity who could 

 not master the science of agricultural chemistry, geology, &c., 

 as presented in that book. It would only require patient atten- 

 tion and perseverance. Questions are appended to the work in 

 such a manner as to adapt it most admirably to the purpose of 



