No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. 27 



before the country, so that Massachusetts may receive at least 

 her share in the advance which is apparent in all agricultural 

 lines. 



To this end, practically the same bill as was presented last 

 year is recommended, but with a larger appropriation and 

 covering a longer term of years. 



Massachusetts Agricultural Development Committee. 



There were presented in the last Legislature three bills, 

 coming from three sources and bearing on much the same 

 question, although approached from somewhat different angles. 

 These bills all had to do with the development of our latent 

 agricultural resources. 



One was presented by the Board, and was designed to collect, 

 tabulate and publish information relating to Massachusetts 

 agricultural resources. A second bill was introduced by a 

 representative of the General Court, and was designed to give 

 the secretary of the Board of Agriculture power to call together 

 agencies in order to make a plan for the development of State 

 resources and recommendations to the General Court. 



The third bill was on the question of tabulating our agri- 

 cultural laws, and was introduced by the Hampden County Im- 

 provement League. As all of these bills failed of enactment, 

 the parties interested agreed voluntarily to get together and see 

 if something could not be worked out covering the ends sought. 



To this end, after several conferences, delegates have been ap- 

 pointed from the agricultural college, the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, the Massachusetts State Grange, the State Forester, 

 Board of Education, Federation of Farm Bureaus and the 

 county schools. 



This committee has taken the name of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Development Committee. It has held ten meet- 

 ings, and has mapped out a general plan for collecting the 

 information which it believes necessary for the best develop- 

 ment of the State. 



The Board has been represented on this committee by your 

 secretary, w^ho was appointed by the executive committee. 



Your secretary has reported in the annual report of the last 

 two years on such subjects as: wasted agricultural resources, 



