THE THIETY- EIGHTH ANNUAL EEPOET 



SECRETARY 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 

 Massachusetts. 



Most of the work of the Board of Agriculture has been 

 along the usual line of effort in past years, but new avenues 

 of usefulness are continually opening. It has been our 

 endeavor to keep abreast of the times, and meet these new 

 calls as far as time and the facilities of the office will allow. 



The year past has been one of average prosperity to the 

 agricultural interests of the State. 



The Weather. 



The winter of 1889-90 was unusually mild. Bulletin No. 

 36 of the State Agricultural Experiment Station at Amherst 

 states that " the mildness of the four months ending Feb. 28, 

 1890, was without a parallel since the beginning of the 

 weather records at Amherst in 1836. 



" The mean temperature for each of the months mentioned 

 was considerably above the average. No ice was cut until 

 February, when it was from six to eight inches in thickness. 

 The periodical snow fall was light, with the exception of the 

 one on the 20th of February, which offered a chance for 

 sleighing for a few days. A snow storm on the 6th of March 



