26 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 



in different parts of the State should meet from time 

 to time, inviting their neighbors to join them, for 

 consultations and discussions relating to agriculture, 

 with a view to the gathering of information useful in 

 the work of the society. At this meeting was read a 

 communication from Justin Ely of Springfield, de- 

 scriptive of the practice of farmers in New York state 

 in the cultivation of hemp. At the next meeting several 

 papers were read, that of the most interest, appar- 

 ently, being a recent English pamphlet giving account 

 of methods of treating diseases, defects and injuries of 

 fruit trees invented by William Forsyth, gardener to 

 the king of England. The board at this time appointed 

 a standing committee to examine critically all papers 

 and communications received with a view to selecting 

 such as, in whole or part, might usefully be published. 



The first semi-annual meeting of the society was 

 held on October 3. A letter from the printer of the 

 Independent Chronicle of Boston, was received, in 

 which he offered to publish the advertisements of the 

 society gratuitously, a proof of the public interest 

 which attached to them. Among the new members 

 admitted was John Hancock, then Governor of the 

 State. 



At the trustees' meeting in November, subscriptions 

 to the permanent fund of the society to the amount of 

 $3,363, were reported. President Russell, who had 

 subscribed $1,000, added to his gift such sum as might 

 procure a common seal for the society, and a commit- 

 tee to report a device for a seal was appointed. At a 

 subsequent meeting a society seal was adopted, the 

 design of which was described by the committee as 

 follows: "A plough should be a part of the device, with 

 a pair of oxen, connected by a chain to the same. A 

 stone wall, and a quick fence, with a gate; the field 



