X BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Our flocks and herds have suffered very little during the 

 year from dreaded contagious diseases. Tuberculosis is 

 said to be prevalent in some sections of the State, and is 

 causing some uneasiness in the minds of cattle owners. 

 The Cattle Commissioners, in their late report, say of this 

 subject : " The facts of a year ago are in the main the facts 

 of to-day. The disease continues with no ap[)arent abate- 

 ment or increase, though, as the veterinary profession in- 

 creases in number, and attention is called to it more and more, 

 there is a call for more active work. The disease could, 

 doubtless, be eradicated by placing it in the same category 

 with pleuro-pneumonia, and applying to it the same provi- 

 sions of law ; but it would, doubtless, necessitate the 

 destruction of twenty animals to save one, and require the 

 payment of many hundreds of thousands of dollars." The 

 Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, with 

 its accustomed liberality and promptness, has arranged for a 

 thorough investigation of the disease by an accomplished 

 veterinarian and microscopist. The plan includes the 

 purchase of milch cows infected with the disease, and experi- 

 ments by feeding their milk to calves, rabbits and other 

 animals, to ascertain the danger to the human family by the 

 use of such milk. It will also investifjate the dano^er from 

 contagion, by confining healthy animals with those that are 

 diseased. For these purposes the society has secured a 

 farm of sixty or seventy acres near the city, but sufficiently 

 isolated from other farms where stock is kept. 



The cattle-shows and fairs of the several societies have 

 been held, and, in most cases, were successful exhibitions. 

 In many instances a larger attendance than usual was 

 reported. Each of the societies has held the required 

 number of institutes, with interest and profit. 



There is a growing interest in the progress of agriculture 

 among the agricultural population of the State. They are 

 learning to honor their calling, and to demand recognition 

 and respect for those who follow it. This advance is 

 largely due to the influence of the Grange. More than 

 twenty new Granges have been organized during the past 

 year, and more than fifteen hundred new members have been 

 added to the organization. 



