THE FORTY-SEYENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



SECEETAKY 



Board of Agriculture 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commomoealth 

 of Massachusetts. 



The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, at the 

 close of another year of counsel and work, has met in 

 annual session to review and gather up the lessons of the 

 past, and to devise means and study methods for greater 

 usefulness to agriculture in the year to come. The position 

 this Board now holds in the farmers' esteem, the confidence 

 reposed in it by the Legislature of the State, and the appre- 

 ciation of our labors, as recorded in our annual report, — 

 which is sought for throughout our own country and from 

 many of the nations of the old world, — should incite us 

 to do our best work, that the record shall be honorable, 

 instructive and valuable. The secretary would only suggest 

 that the several reports which by law are included in the 

 report of the Board of Agriculture, be as condensed and as 

 concise as consistent with a fair presentation of the topic, 

 that they may be more generally read by the people. The 

 farmer who does not study carefully these several reports, 

 will lose a thorough understanding of the present methods, 

 conditions and results in agricultural work and investigation, 

 and will not appreciate or understand the work of this 

 Board of Ao-riculture. 



