10 AGRICULTURE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Jan. 14, 1852, at which time a constitution and by-laws was 

 adopted, and it was 



Resolved, That, inasmuch as agriculture is the chief occupation of 

 her citizens, the Commonwealth, in the organization of its govern- 

 ment, should be provided with a Department of Agriculture, with 

 offices commensurate with the importance of the duties to be dis- 

 charged, of the abilities to be required, and of the labors to be per- 

 formed. 



A third meeting was held at the State House, Boston, Feb. 

 3, 1852. 



This Board, although unaided by the State, carried on a 

 series of extensive operations through the year, appointed 

 committees to visit and report upon all the exhibitions of the 

 different agricultural societies, and by its vigorous efforts 

 aroused so great an interest in agricultural affairs that, at 

 the session of 1852, the Legislature was induced, with great 

 unanimity, to establish a State Board of Agriculture. This 

 was done by chapter 142 of the Acts of 1852, approved by 

 His Excellency Gov. Geo. S. Boutwell, April 21, 1852. 



By this law the Board was made to consist of His Excellency 

 the governor, His Honor the lieutenant-governor, and the sec- 

 retary of the Commonwealth, ex officio; of one member from 

 each of the agricultural societies in the Commonwealth that 

 received an annual bounty from the State, and of three members 

 to be appointed by the governor and council. Provision was 

 made for the election of a secretary of the Board, who was in 

 reality to be its executive officer. The Board has been from 

 time to time enlarged by the addition of the president of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1866 and the chemist 

 of the Board in 1874, as members ex officio, and by the incor- 

 poration of new societies, until it now numbers forty-six. 



The first meeting of the State Board of Agriculture was held 

 at the Council Chamber in Boston, July 22, 1852, with His 

 Excellency Governor Boutwell as presiding officer, and the 

 secretary of the Commonwealth, Hon. Amasa Walker, as sec- 

 retary pro tern. There were eighteen persons present, among 

 whom was Hon. James S. Grinnell of Greenfield, representing 

 the Franklin County Agricultural Society, and who is still an 

 honored member of the Board. The second meeting was held 



