TWENTY-SECOND 

 ANNUAL EEPOET OF THE SECEETAET 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 



Massachusetts. 



While a somewhat general depression of the manufacturing 

 and commercial interests has prevailed throughout the State, 

 during the past year, the farming community, as a whole, 

 has been more than usually prosperous. Farming, though 

 dependent greatly upon the character and the fluctuations of 

 the seasons, is comparatively independent of the exigencies 

 of trade, and calculated to sustain a spirit of courage and 

 hopefulness from the fact that it lies at the very foundation 

 of all other industries, and is the groundwork of all public 

 prosperity. 



The spring, though cold and late, was protracted into the 

 summer, while the distribution of moisture through frequent 

 and copious rains, was highly favorable to the growth of 

 grass and most other cultivated crops. The greenness and 

 luxuriance of the early foliage was continued late into the 

 summer to such an extent as to be the subject of general 

 remark. The opening of the growing season was, therefore, 

 exceptionally favorable, no drought occurring to check the 

 progress of vegetation till late in the fall, when springs and 



