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that it did not take the assessors long to discover any improve- 

 ments that he made on his farm as a result of better methods. 

 Finally, it appears that farming in Massachusetts, viewed 

 from the standpoint of both its present status and its prospects, 

 is a calling the successful pursuit of which requires a knowl- 

 edge of the science that lies back of the practice of agriculture 

 as a handicraft; that, in order to secure a widespread pro- 

 ductive and profitable agriculture, it is necessary that voca- 

 tional schools supported and controlled by the public should 

 train the youth in the best methods of farming ; and that farm- 

 ing in Massachusetts is a calling of sufficient importance to 

 justify both local and State support of those forms of educa- 

 tion that will effectively prepare boys, and, to some extent at 

 least, girls, for it. 



