X BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doe. 



explained the experiments carried on at the experiment 

 station in grass raising'. In the afternoon Dr. Geo. M. 

 Twitchel] of Maine gave an interesting address on the 

 subject "Harness your forces." It is my present plan to 

 make this demonstration work an annual feature of the 

 summer meetings of the Board. A detailed account of this 

 successful and valuable meeting will be found printed in 

 this volume. 



The public winter meeting for lectures and discussions 

 was held at South Framingham, on invitation of the Middle- 

 sex South Agricultural Society, and was one of the most 

 successful for a number of years, the lectures being uni- 

 formly of the tirst rank in thought and treatment, the dis- 

 cussions concise and intelligent, and the attendance fully 

 up to the average in numl)er and })erhaps above in mental 

 grasp and alertness. A pleasant feature of the meeting 

 was the visit to the fiirm of Mr. N. I. Bowditch of the 

 Board, on the afternoon of the last day of the meeting. 

 The lectures and discussions will l)e found printed in this 

 volume. 



The annual business meeting of the Board was held at 

 Boston, Jan. 10 and 11, 1905. The minutes of this meet- 

 ing, together with the reports submitted by the various 

 committees, will be found printed in this volume. Special 

 business meetings were held at the summer and winter 

 meetings. 



Agricultural Societies. 



The incorporated agricultural societies of Massachusetts 

 had in the main a successful year, both from a financial 

 standpoint and from that of their fulfilling their mission in 

 assisting in the improvement of agriculture in the Common- 

 wealth. There were a few exceptions to the general rule 

 of financial success, caused by unfavorable weather, and 

 perhaps one or two that might have been avoided by more 

 careful business management. The tendency of officers and 

 boards of management is undoubtedly in the direction of 

 strictly agricultural fairs, two more societies having adopted 

 the policy of excluding all fakirs and attractions from their 

 exhibitions, with marked success from an educational stand- 



