6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



form possessing few attractions for those whom they were 

 intended to benefit. These volumes were, therefore, little 

 read. They were not sought after to any extent by the 

 people ; and the editions were left on hand in great numbers, 

 stored in the spacious lofts of the State House. But the 

 publication was continued annually, notwithstanding the 

 limited call for them ; and constant additions were made to 

 the large accumulation of back numbers. 



This indifference arose in part from the fact that the habit 

 of reading was far less common among the farming commu- 

 nity of that day than it is at present. There was little spirit 

 of inquiry, little taste for investigation, little interest in 

 farm improvements, compared with what we see at the pres- 

 ent day. But it was due in part, no doubt, to the fact that 

 there was no uniformity in the returns of the various soci- 

 eties, and they could not be arranged so as to offer the means 

 of ready comparison. The volumes were not indexed ; and 

 it was extremel}^ difficult, without wading through a vast 

 mass of material, to find any thing that might be wanted. 

 The returns, generally very poor and meagre at the best, were 

 not thrown into an attractive form ; and they consequently 

 fell dead, so far as any influence in awakening an interest in 

 agriculture was concerned. 



In order to do something to arouse the farming community 

 from the general apathy that seemed to prevail, the trustees 

 of the Norfolk Agricultural Society, at their meeting on the 

 28th of January, 1851, Voted, " That the president and sec- 

 retaries be a committee to mature and adopt a plan for a 

 convention of delegates from the various agricultural socie- 

 ties of the Commonwealth, to be holden at some convenient 

 time and place, the object of which shall be to concert meas- 

 ures for their mutual advantage, and for the promotion of 

 the cause of agricultural education." In accordance with 

 this vote, arrangements were made to hold a convention of 

 delegates at the State House on the 20th of March, 1851, 

 when the Hon. ]\Iarshall P. Wilder was chosen president ; 

 the vice-presidents consisting of the presidents of the various 

 societies represented on the occasion, the venerable ex-Gov. 

 Lincoln of Worcester at the head of the list. 



The deliberations of this convention resulted in a central 

 Board of Agriculture, from which grew the present depart- 



