24 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



people ; whether you are not getting on in the world as 

 well as other people, upon a fair average. One man may 

 be in one position, and another man in another position 

 which seems not to be as good. But consider whether, on 

 the whole, there are not as many men below you as there 

 are above you, — men who are doing no better than you 

 are. You may find that you arc in a very satisfactory posi- 

 tion, compared with most people. 



The Chair. Massachusetts, as Lieutenant-Governor Bates 

 has said, has been and is now an important part of the coun- 

 try, and, in the view of the farmers of Massachusetts, its 

 agriculture is of high importance. While the area of the 

 State is small and the agricultural proportion of her people 

 still smaller, yet, if you will compare its agriculture with 

 that of States of greater area and population, you will find 

 that Massachusetts produces a greater value of agricultural 

 products in proportion than some of the larger States. The 

 United States government has taken up the task of helping 

 agriculture, of fostering it, of helping to bear its burdens 

 and of extending its opportunities, all for the benefit of the 

 agricultural classes. It has a Department of Agriculture, 

 represented in the cabinet by a secretar3^ We were unable 

 to procure the attendance of Secretary Wilson here to-day, 

 though I am sure he would have enjoyed this meeting ; but 

 he sends one of his foremost workers to brino; the o-reetino-s 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, and speak 

 to us of the agricultural progress of the country. I intro- 

 duce to you Mr. Frank H. Hitchcock of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



SOME FEATURES OF THE WORK PERFORMED BY 



THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF 



AGRICULTURE. 



By Frank H. Hitchcock, Chief of the Division of Foreign Markets, 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Mr. Chairman, in making the arrangements for this semi- 

 centennial meeting of the Board, 3'our officers invited the 

 Secretary of Agriculture to be one of the speakers. It was 



