PREFACE. 



The returns of the various agricultui'al societies were more meagre 

 this year than usual, added to which many of them failed to get their 

 Transactions printed in season to make it practicable to use them in 

 making up the following Abstract. 



I have, also, condensed that part of the returns wliich were received 

 in time, somewhat more than usual, so as to bring the size of the volume 

 to reasonable limits, even at the risk of leaving out some topics that 

 might have appeared under other circumstances. 



I must again urge upon the societies the importance of greater 

 promptness in publishing their returns, and of putting them into a shape 

 that will secure them a more careful study on the part of farmers into 

 whose hands they happen to fall. The money invested in printing is 

 the most judicious expenditure a society can make, and they cannot 

 fully and honorably discharge theii' duty to the State without incurring 

 tliis expenditure. C. l. f. 



