AGRICULTURAL WANT OP EDUCATION. 71 



of chemical investigation into the composition of soils, manures, 

 plants and animals, which is still in progress, and though the 

 precise object of search has not been discovered, a vast amount 

 of valuable knowledge, both theoretical and practical, has been 

 attained. The methods of enriching soils, preparing and apply- 

 ing manures, stimulating plants to produce the crops desired, 

 and feeding animals for special purposes, which have been de- 

 vised by intelligent men under the guidance of science, have 

 been, and will to the end of time be, of inestimable value to the 

 world. 



Tlie surpassing worth of any, even the smallest improvement 

 in agriculture, and the rapidity with which one invention fol- 

 lowed another, awakened the public mind to the necessity of 

 some new means for the diffusion of knowledge, and for the 

 excitement among farmers of a desire for better tools, seeds, 

 stock and methods. Hence the organization of agricultural 

 societies, which aimed to accomplish these results by the publi- 

 cation of useful information, by the discussion of various impor- 

 tant subjects, by the exhibition of the best agricultural tools 

 and products, and by the offering of premiums for the trial of 

 experiments, the invention of improved processes or implements, 

 and the production of the largest crops, the finest specimens of 

 the most desirable farm produce or domestic animals, and for 

 the best essays upon specified topics. 



The Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture 

 was incorporated in 1792, and has always been composed large- 

 ly of gentlemen of wealth and culture, residing in Boston or its 

 vicinity. 



In addition to the other more common modes of advancing 

 the interests of the great art, this society has repeatedly im- 

 ported valuable animals of choice breeds from England and 

 France, and distributed them for service in various parts of the 

 Commonwealth. The farmers of Middlesex County organized 

 a society in 1794, and those of Berkshire in 1811. The people 

 of other counties soon followed their example, until now there 

 are thirty incorporated societies enjoying the liberal patronage 

 of the State. Most of these own from thirty to sixty acres of 

 land and suitable buildings for their fairs, which are attended 

 by from 3,000 to 25,000 visitors. Their total real and personal 



