VI PREFACE. 



the spirit of this law is of the utmost importance for the 

 credit of the society and of the State. The apology most 

 frequently made for a non-compliance is, that it is not 

 possible to finish the printing by that date. That de- 

 pends entirely on the efficiency of the secretary. A few 

 of the societies publish full and complete reports of two 

 hundred pages or more, and place them promptly in my 

 hands on or before the date required. There can there- 

 fore be no good reason why other societies, printing a 

 less amount, cannot equally well comply Avith the law. 

 Let the chairmen of the committees be impressed by the 

 president and secretary of the society with the impor- 

 tance of promptness and faithfulness in making their 

 reports, and of preparing them, in the main, before the 

 exhibition^ subject to modifications suggested by the exhi- 

 bition, and to the addition of the awards, and the reports 

 and transactions of the society would soon attain a higher 

 value and a more general interest. We should, above 

 all, avoid falling into a regular routine, — a way of doing 

 things in the same manner year after year. Change and 

 novelty, though not always improvements, are important 

 means of awakening interest and fixing the attention. 



The arrangement of the present volume is, in the main, 

 the same as that of last year, which has been found, on 

 the whole, to be most convenient for reference. A com- 

 plete index will be found at the end. 



The financial returns of the societies will be found in 

 the Appendix to the Fifth Annual Report of the Secre- 

 tary of the Board of Agriculture. 



C. L. F. 



Boston, March 15, 1858. 



