530 MASS. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that good morals thrive best, where the products of the land 

 require the most care. In proportion, however, to the ungenial 

 quality of the soil, is the advantage of machinery and imple- 

 ments adapted to lighten labor and assist the work. In no 

 part of the country, therefore, is this subject of implements 

 more important than here in our own State. 



" The United States present a wide field for the operations 

 of skilful artisans in all useful as well as ornamental articles j 

 as their wealth increases so do also their taste for the elegant 

 and beautiful, and their desire to possess what will minister to 

 the refinements of life. This is ever the case with nations as 

 they advance in intellectual power, and in the first appreciation 

 of what confers real dignity on a people ; and their moral 

 strength keeps pace with their progress in intelligence." 



During the last fifty years, as was remarked in the outset, 

 the mind has been preeminently active in seeking out new in- 

 ventions. It has also had its period to soar to the heavens in 

 search of new planets, mark the time of their coming, and tell 

 us when their far-ofi" light shall first touch our earth ; — to 

 explore fathomless seas and penetrate deep bays and inlets 

 of frozen zones ; it has outstript the fancies of the poet, in 

 passing " a girdle round the earth in forty minutes." Mar- 

 vellous works has it wrought in steam and electricity ; probed 

 deep into animal physiology, given us new limbs in surgery, 

 and finally thrown us into a temporary death in order to haul 

 up our shattered frame for repair of damages. 



But at present the mind's popular idea is agriculture. The 

 decrease of crops on most of our old lands, with the rapid in- 

 crease of population, has arrested the attention of many ear- 

 nest and intelligent persons. The inquiry everywhere is, 

 What shall be done to increase the fertility of our impoverished 

 acres, and bring a more ample reward for the labor bestowed 

 upon them ? Our answer is, more light, — a more intimate 

 knowledge of the laws and operations of nature, and a more 

 careful and skilful cultivation of what we undertake. 



SIMON BROWN, Chairman. 



