THE SECRETARY'S REPORT. 19 



printed or manuscript form, shall be marked in such manner that those 

 passages in the several reports and statements deemed by such officers 

 most worthy of public notice, study and application, may be easily 

 distinguished." 



It is difficult to conceive a more excellent arrangement than 

 is contained in the portions of these Acts which I have quoted. 

 An appeal is made to an educated and industrious community 

 of farmers to become at once teachers and learners. Had 

 Arthur Young enjoyed the privileges which have been bestowed 

 upon the Board of Agriculture and its Secretary in this Common- 

 wealth, the agriculture of England might have been advanced 

 a century through his instrumentality alone. Every experiment 

 however small, every essay however humble, every investigator 

 however rude and primitive his processes, receive direct encour- 

 agement from the State, and find listeners and learners in every 

 farmhouse, where may also be found the experimenters and 

 writers of the art. 



The history of the Boar*d and of the societies shows that their 

 work has thus far been well done. If there was ever any doubt 

 of the disposition and ability of the farmers of Massachusetts to 

 acquire and impart information, that doubt should be removed 

 by the series of volumes entitled the Agriculture of Massa- 

 chusetts. Turn to the " Abstract of the Returns of the Agri- 

 cultural Societies of Massachusetts " contained in those pages, 

 and you will find a record of facts, figures, opinions, theories 

 and laws upon almost every matter of interest to the farmer, a 

 record drawn from the soil itself by the well-educated cultivator, 

 or from the stalls and folds and pens of the successful managers 

 of the domestic animals used upon our farms. Page after page 

 presents to your consideration the refined sentiments, and gen- 

 erous speculations, and encouraging thoughts, not only of 

 educated men who are called to address our societies at their 

 annual exhibitions, but of those also, who, as practical farmers, 

 ennoble their calling and add their daily contribution to the 

 productions of the State. The literary work performed by the 

 members of the Board, a voluntary and unremunerated act, 

 without parallel in any other public service known to the State, 

 contained in this Annual Report deserves more than a passing 



