NORFOLK SOCIETY. 279 



much, as will be seen, towards perfecting that branch of indus- 

 try, by which the earth is made to yield her products for the 

 sustenance and comfort of man. 



The publication of statements showing the various methods 

 adopted by experienced and faithful cultivators, cannot fail to 

 stimulate others to follow in the same paths of progress and 

 improvement. Three premiums were awarded for the cultiva- 

 tion of wheat, and it is hoped that a j)roduct of twenty-eight 

 and thirty bushels per acre, as attested by the committee on 

 grain crops, will afford inducement sufficient to cause this 

 branch of culture to be greatly extended within our limits. 



Considerable attention is now devoted to reclaiming meadow 

 and unimproved lands, and considering our proximity to the 

 city and sea coast, and the rapidity of the increase of our pop- 

 ulation, this branch of Agriculture, especially for its prospective 

 advantages, cannot be too highly commended. 



By a report from Rev. Charles C. Sewall, it will be noticed 

 that a movement has been made for the reward and encourage- 

 ment of Agricultural laborers. Whilst under our republican 

 institutions, labor is almost every where, throughout the free 

 States, honored and applauded, the laborer himself, it should 

 seem, ought not to be forgotten or neglected. It is hoped that 

 out of this beginning, a plan will be matured worthy of gen- 

 eral adoption by the various societies throughout the State, by 

 which man, laboring man, the " nobler growth " of our sterile 

 soil, my be benefited and exalted. 



The society has been employed during the past year in pros- 

 ecuting the objects for which it was organized, by the use of 

 all the means possessed. About one hundred and fifty ad- 

 ditional members have been obtained, and an interest in the 

 objects and welfare of the society has been extended and in- 

 creased. 



The address before the society was delivered by the Hon. 

 Charles Francis Adams, of Q,uincy. 



