iv PREFACE. 



pounds. This overgrown appendage becomes often a great inconvenience to 

 the animal. In the Syrian varieties k is less developed. The fatty deposit is 

 oleaginous, of a consistence between fat and marrow, and is often used in place 

 of butter. When the animal is young it is said to be equal to the best 

 marrow. 



Thanks are also due to the inventors and manufacturers of the ploughs and 

 other implements illustrated in the Report, for the use of cuts designed to give 

 some idea of the recent improvements in agricultural mechanics, as shown at 

 the Trial of Ploughs at Amherst in May last, and at the Exhibitions of the 

 County Societies. 



It is worthy of the consideration of the societies whether the method, too 

 often adopted, of awarding premiums on implements, without a practical trial 

 on the field or elsewhere, is not, on the whole, productive of more harm than 

 "ood. Some of the societies have already voted to discontinue this practice. 

 To decide the comparative merits and value of many machines without a care- 

 ful trial is simply impossible, and awards without such trial often mislead the 

 farming community. 



Many statements of crops are still too Indefinite to be of general value, and 

 such are necessarily excluded from this volume, when they might otherwise 

 be of "-reat value. The secretaries of the societies can do much to secure 

 greater detail and accuracy of statement on the part of competitors for 

 premiums. 



CHARLES L. FLINT. 



Boston, January 27, 1869. 



