116 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



GENERAL CEO PS. 



HIGHLAND. 



From the Report of the Comiiiitfee. 



In some cases your Committee have been asked if the pre- 

 mium was to be awarded " by the eye," or according to the 

 written statement. Our reply uniformly has been, that we 

 should adhere to the regulations of the Board. Various 

 responses have been made to this reply, some approving and 

 some condemning, partly because the labor required was more 

 than the value of the premium, and partly because they did not 

 know how to fill out the statements. After the experience your 

 Committee have had, they are more firmly convinced that the 

 regulations of the State Board are neither onerous nor unrea- 

 sonable, and that the faithful compliance with them will con- 

 duce to a more accurate, thoughtful and scientific manner of 

 farming, and will lead the farmer to a more careful study of 

 cause and effect. In this connection, the Committee regret that 

 all those who made entries of crops have not seen fit to make 

 statements of the same, even though the amount of crops would 

 not seem to justify a premium. More useful scientific knowledge 

 is often gained from a failure than from a success, and it is only 

 by carefully studying the causes of failure as well as success that 

 absolute knowledge is obtained. We also are satisfied, from an 

 examination of the statements, particularly in reference to root 

 crops, that the farmers in the limits of the society can raise as 

 productive crops as any other in the State, and we can but 

 commend this branch of agriculture to the more careful atten- 

 tion of our farmers. Even though grazing forms the principal 

 business in this society, we believe large root crops will be found 

 a powerful auxiliary, neglecting to cultivate which will be found 

 poor economy. 



M. J. Smith, /or the Committee. 



