46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



in their ordinary business, and sell out and abandon the whole 

 thing. Not long since, a gentleman who had purchased a piece 

 of land near me made some inquiries of me. He said he had 

 purchased this land, but didn't know how he should make out 

 with it, and asked me some questions. I told him if I had it I 

 could make money out of it, but I didn't think lie could. I 

 think it will be a source of great discomfort to him, and after 

 struggling along a good many years he will sell out and deter- 

 mine to live without that perplexity ; whereas, if he had had a 

 practical education, I have no doubt it would have been a source 

 of great comfort and pleasure to him. And now I say, if nine- 

 tenths of those young men go into other business, the education 

 is not lost. A large proportion will eventually return to the 

 occupations of the farm, enjoy its comforts and blessings, and 

 enjoy the benefits of the education which they have thus 

 received, and which appears, perhaps, for a time, to have been 

 thrown away. 



Professor Chadbourne. There is one single point in regard 

 to which I think there is great misapprehension in the minds of 

 the community in connection with the Agricultural College. 1 

 judge so from letters that I receive and intimations that are 

 dropped from time to time. There has been some controversy 

 with regard to the location of the college. I am glad I know 

 very little about it, and I never intend to read up on it. " Let 

 the dead past bury its dead ; " we have enough to do with what 

 is alive. But what I want to say is, that I hope the impression 

 will not go abroad that the Agricultural College depends upon 

 this location or that location, this kind of buildings or that kind 

 of buildings. An institution is made up of its president and 

 faculty — the personnel of the institution. Give us that, and 

 give us a barn to work in, if you please. 



C. 0. Perkins, of Becket. Some points have come up here, 

 and some questions have been asked, which I have thought 

 upon. The question is asked, " How shall we retain these young 

 men upon the farm ? " Is the only question for the farmers of 

 Massachusetts how to create farmers — how to increase agricul- 

 tural knowledge — or is the question how shall they best make 

 men of their boys ? If we want to make farmers of our boys, 

 my observation is this — that we must keep and continue those 

 boys on the farm. We may take our boys off the farm in the 



