No. 4.] WORK OF BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 253 



tion to the members of each ; to towns that do not have one 

 of these organizations or a member of the Legislature, in pro- 

 portion to their farming population ; and to such individuals 

 as applied for it at the office. A large number are used for 

 exchano-e with the boards of aoriculture and agricultural 

 experiment stations of other States, and sent on a[)plication 

 to public libraries in this and other States, and in many 

 instances to foreiijn countries. The agricultural colleges 

 and experiment stations of almost all the States are prompt 

 applicants for this volume, and the liberal number authorized 

 by the Legislature enaljles us to supply all demands. 



Six monthly crop bulletins have been issued the past sea- 

 son, or one hundred and fifty-six pages in all. These have 

 been mailed to some two thousand farmers of the State, 

 making a total issue of twelve thousand two hundred copies. 

 The information contained has been derived from one 

 hundred and seventy correspondents, residing in all parts 

 of the State. In connection with this work we have during 

 the past season sent out seventeen weekly New England 

 weather-crop bulletins. These weekly reports (thirty-six 

 thousand six hundred) have been furnished by the New 

 England A^Vather Service in exchange for pecuniary and other 

 assistance we have been able to afford the Weather Service 

 in its work. 



We have also, in performance of the duty imposed upon 

 the Board by the Legislature, "to collect and circulate 

 information in regard to abandoned or partially a))andoned 

 farms," collected information and obtained descriptions of 

 three hundred and eighty-three such farms, and printed 

 second and third editions of the descriptive catalogue of such 

 property, containing a total of tw^o hundred and twenty- 

 eight pages. Thirty-five hundred copies were printed and 

 distributed. The amount expended for printing circulars, 

 crop reports and catalogues w^as $917.22. We have 

 expended for postage for correspondence and on circulars, 

 crop reports and catalogues, $405,78. The work of gather- 

 ing, arranging and editing the material for the crop reports 

 and the two editions of the catalogue of abandoned or par- 

 tially abandoned farms has been very considerable. The 

 very simple matter of addressing the envelopes for circulars 



