PREFACE. 



This constitutes my Fourth and last Report on the Agricul- 

 ture of Massachusetts. The Legislature having, in their wis- 

 dom, seen fit to repeal the act authorising the survey before its 

 completion, it only remains for me to wrap my robes about me 

 and retire, leaving behind me my blessing for my good old 

 mother, the Bay State. It is a small offering ; but there is a 

 treasury, where the mite of the poverty-stricken, if it be the 

 gift of a true heart, will not be disdained even among the splen- 

 did offerings of the affluent. 



I have given, in this case, an examination only of the coun- 

 ties of Franklin and Middlesex, with occasional references to 

 other counties ; but I have treated very fully the topics con- 

 nected particularly with the agriculture of these two counties, 

 such as the raising and fatting of neat cattle, sheep husbandry, 

 dairy stock, the keeping and fatting of swine, the cultivation 

 of hops, and the reclaiming of peat and bog meadows. I have 

 a large amount of materials on hand in relation to these and to 

 other counties, which I have examined, which I should have 

 been glad to compile and present : but after the resolution re- 

 pealing the survey, I have not been without fears that I may 

 have transcended my proper limits in giving as much as I have. 

 Should this be the case, I can only throw myself on the can- 

 dor of an enlightened, and therefore liberal community. 



