1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



125 



the aggregate amount received from the Trustees 

 in 1854. 



The sum spent for permanent improvements, 

 for the labor of the boys — for implements, stock, 

 &c., amounts, during the five years, to $32,423- 

 17. The aggregate amount received from the 

 Commonwealth during the same period, inclu- 

 ding the value of the inventory received from the 

 Trustees in 1854, was $29,081,00, showing a bal- 

 ance of $3,342 17, which the farm returns to the 

 State more than the whole amount received. 



SECOND DAY. 



Wednesday, Jan. 19, 1859. 



The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder was called 

 to the chair. 



In consequence of the Board having decided 

 at a previous meeting no longer to conduct the 

 affairs of the farm, a committee was appointed to 

 report a plan of business for the year, and they 

 reported that the Board be subdivided into com- 

 mittees, each of whom should investigate a spe- 

 cial subject, and report to the full Board, annual- 

 ly, in January, the result of their investigations. 

 This report was adopted. 



Under a resolve of the legislature of 1857, the 

 Board of Agriculture was authorized to ^^investi- 

 gate the various methods of arresting the disease 

 of theipotoio" proposed by certain applicants for 

 the premium of ten thousand dollars offered by 

 the legislature of 1851. The Board committed 

 this subject to a committee of three persons, who 

 reported that some fifty applications had been 

 presented to the Executive from time to time, 

 but that only about twenty out of this number 

 could be found and placed in their hands. These 

 w^ere carefully considered, and so far as was prac- 

 ticable, the methods proposed of arresting the 

 disease were tried at the State Farm, and all 

 failed — they, therefore, reported, that in their 

 judgment no person is entitled to receive the pre- 

 mium. This report was accepted by the Board, 

 and its Secretary was directed to communicate 

 these facts to the legislature now in session. 



Reports were next made by delegates who vis- 

 ited the various county societies, and judging 

 from these alone, the conclusion must be, that 

 they have all reached a remarkable degree of per- 

 fection. We cannot believe that the management 

 of these Societies has been such that they are 

 susceptible of no improvement, or that there 

 have not been innovations introduced not con- 

 templated by the legislature, or justified by a 

 sound discrimination, and we regret that these 

 reports have not spoken plainly and forcibly up- 

 on any departure by any society from the plain 

 intentions of the legislature. 



IJefore the sitting closed, these reports were 

 pretty thoroughly discussed and criticised, and 



some of the innovations introduced into the coun- 

 ty societies plainly pointed out, — especially that 

 of occupying so much time in racing, trotting, or 

 pacing horses for money, in direct contradiction 

 to both letter and spirit of the statute of the 

 Commonwealth, It was stated that no society 

 could plead that it did not offer money itself, for 

 it was liable for whatever was done by its consent 

 on its grounds. Other violations of the statute 

 were also pointed out. 



THIRD DAY. 



Thursday, Jan. 20, 1859. 



The report of the special committee to propose 

 a plan of operations for the ensuing year was 

 considered in committee of the whole, and a wide 

 range of subjects was proposed from which to 

 select such as should be referred to sub-commit- 

 tees for their investigation. 



The Board probably continued its settings 

 through one or two more days, but an engage- 

 ment out of the State deprived us of the pleas- 

 ure of remaining with it. Its concluding business 

 we must give at another time. 



THE "WIND. 



A truly mysterious agent is the wind, viewless 

 itself, yet having an eye withal toward which if 

 one finds himself moving he will be sure to feel 

 its force if he does not see its form. It is strong- 

 armed also, beating down opposition with relent- 

 less strength. Its voice is terrible sometimes, 

 and sometimes softer than a flute. Now it has 

 the plaint of an fuolian harp ; th'-n life-like whis- 

 tles loud and clear. It sobs among the pine cones, 

 rustles in chestnut's summer leaves, and rattles 

 in the bare branches and falling foliage of the 

 autumn. Almost noiselessly does this invisible 

 tenant of the space above us seem to creep, 

 though in fact unseen, along the waving grass 

 and corn, which bend in reverence as it passes. 



The wind has been said already to have an 

 eye. It has breath, too, now smiling in the siroc- 

 co or simoon, now cutting down men with the 

 norther and prostrating in the hurricane. Gen- 

 erally it may be inferred that it possesses a good 

 character. The common saying that it is an il. 

 wind that blows nobody any good, implies that 

 usually it is a good creature enough. It blows 

 our vessels to pieces sometimes, indeed, but 

 then, how many more does it blow, with their 

 rich freight of men and merchandise, across the 

 oceans? Winds derive their character, as men 

 do, from the country of their origin. Those 

 from the land of boreas are apt to be savage in 

 their attacks as the white bears of the pole, while 

 those from the tropics softly kiss our cheeks and 

 woo us to repose. 



It makes itself useful in a thousand ways, one 

 of which is turning mills and powerfully helping 

 all sorts of manufacture. As an entertainer it 

 is unrivalled. How sublimely it brings up the 

 thunder-shower ; how beautifully it floats along 

 the sky, the billowy cloud. It causes the hail or 

 rain drop to patter against the window ; and, if 



