274 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



ever directed to the cultivation of the soil; and when many 

 both wealthy and liberal men in the Commonwealth are 

 holding out the inducement of an ample supply of funds in 

 furtherance of such an undertaking. 



Influenced by these considerations, among many others, 

 your committee respectfully recommend that a committee 

 be chosen by this Board to apply to the present Legislature 

 for an act authorizing the formation of a Board of Trustees, 

 capable of holding funds to be applied in establishing an 

 experimental farm and agricultural school connected with 

 it, designed to furnish instruction in every branch of rural 

 economy, theoretical and practical. 



B. V. French. 



Seth Sprague. 



John Brooks. 



Acting on the recommendation in the above report, the 

 Board appointed Messrs. French, Newell, Sprague, Wilder, 

 and Secretary Flint a committee; and, as a result of this 

 action, the Legislature incorporated the Massachusetts 

 School of Agriculture, but no institution was established. 



At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, October 15, 

 1856, Messrs. John C. Bartlett, Benjamin V. French and 

 Secretary Flint were appointed a committee to take into 

 consideration the propriety of having a text-book on agri- 

 culture, prepared under the sanction of the Board. 



At the annual meeting, January 5, 1860, Mr. Richard S. 

 Fay offered the following resolution, which was adopted : — 



Resolved, as the opinion of this Board, that a system of 

 agricultural education should be adopted and form a part 

 of the educational system of the State. 



