SECRETARY'S REPORT. 27 



the establishment of agricultural schools, and were really the 

 founders of this Board, the record of whose operations, must 

 have been a source of gratification to them. It was with no 

 ordinary pleasure, that I found myself associated on this com- 

 mittee with the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, and the Hon. John 

 Brooks. 



The committee had but one meeting, at which Mr. Brooks 

 was elected as Chairman, and a list of prominent agricultural 

 gentlemen and savans, was prepared, from whom we had a 

 right to expect lectures and debates of a high order. 



It pains me to announce to you, gentlemen, that since that 

 time the whole duty of the committee has devolved upon myself. 

 Not that I could be reluctant to labor in such a cause, but that 

 the circumstances which deprived me of valuable counsel and 

 aid are such as must cast a shadow over us all. 



The sudden decease of Mr. Brooks, sudden to us, but perhaps 

 not to himself, forewarned and prepared as he had been for a 

 long time, deprived this Board of one of its wisest counsellors, 

 the agricultural community of one of its most zealous and effi- 

 cient members, and the Commonwealth of one of its most useful 

 and exemplary citizens. He was in all respects one of the yeo- 

 manry of our State. Possessed of an ample fortune, he chose 

 the rural walks of life as best fitted for the exercise of his 

 industry and skill, and most promotive of the best faculties of 

 his mind and heart. For his profession he had a profound 

 respect,, and was never weary of discussing the position main- 

 tained by the farmers of the Commonwealth, as the perpetuators 

 of her vigor and prosperity. He was careful in his investiga- 

 tions, acute in his observations, and prudent in his endeavors to 

 make such improvements on his own soil, and among his flocks 

 and herds, as would commend themselves to every practical and 

 enterprising farmer. He had great honesty and integrity of 

 character, and was remarkable for a tenacity of purpose which 

 usually insured success to his endeavors ; and he belonged to 

 that generation of men who gave a dignity and importance to 

 our rural districts, which the temptations and larger oppor- 

 tunities of our growing cities threaten to impair. Without the 

 highest public honors and distinctions, he was a citizen whose 

 example was worthy of imitation, and whose position and 

 pursuits were most useful and valuable. 



