xxviii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



and out of season. They are willing to pay for them. He 

 who furnishes what is wanted and just when it is wanted, 

 gets a good price and makes a profit. Here lies the oppor- 

 tunity of the Massachusetts farmer. The effort at the 

 institutes has been to stimulate enterprise in these directions. 

 The agricultural productions of the State are increasing in 

 value from year to year. The loss in beef, wool, wheat, 

 etc., is more than made up by an increase in milk, butter 

 and fine fruits, including cranberries and garden products. 



Abandoned Farms. 



Meantime, we hear much of the abandoned farms in the 

 State. They are in retired locations, mostly among the 

 hills. Some of them are ideal situations for summer resi- 

 dences of the well-to-do, others are adapted to specialties 

 in agriculture. This office is in continual receipt of letters 

 of inquiry about such property. If the Legislature would 

 provide for an official list and descriptions of such property, 

 somewhat after the plan pursued in New Hampshire, it is 

 believed that many of these farms might be sold, and thus 

 become productive property, enhancing the valuation of the 

 State and adding to its production and population. 



Meetings of the Board. 



The public winter meeting of the Board at Worcester, 

 December 2, 3 and 4, was a success in the quality of the 

 lectures presented. The policy of procuring for this meet- 

 ing men of national reputation as agricultural lecturers, gave 

 us an exceedingly interesting programme. The audiences 

 were not large, but the prominent farmers were present from 

 all over the State, and the discussions that followed the lec- 

 tures were animated, and questions on practical points of the 

 addresses brought out a vast amount of valuable information. 

 The essays at the annual meeting by members of the Board 

 are worthy of a place with the lectures at the Worcester 

 meeting. This matter printed in this volume, " Agriculture 

 of Massachusetts, 1890," will be a standard for reference in 

 the institutes of the coming year, and in the discussions of 

 our granges and farmers' clubs. 



