SECRETARY'S REPORT. 29 



At the meeting held in Westboroiigh, on the 19th of October, 

 it was resolved that it is inexpedient for the Board of Agricul- 

 ture to take any steps to renew the contract for the further 

 possession and management of the State Farm, at "Westborough, 

 and thereupon a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. 

 Bartlett, Fisher, Grennell, Bull, and the Secretary, to consider 

 and report some plan of action for the future operations of the 

 Board. That committee having considered the subject, previous 

 to the next meeting held in Boston on the 18th of January, 

 submitted the following 



REPORT: 



It having been determined, at the October meeting of the Board, 

 of Agriculture, that it was inexpedient for said Board, under all the 

 circumstances, to renew the contract with the Trustees of the State 

 Reform School, at Westborough, by which the management of the 

 farm connected with the school was placed in our hands, the ques- 

 tion presented itself with much force, " What course the Board 

 ought to adopt in reference to its future action ? "' and the imdersigned 

 were chosen a committee to consider this subject, and report a plan 

 which should give every member of the Board, if possible, some part 

 in its labors. The true position of the Board *of Agriculture, in its 

 connections with the farmers of the State, is somewhat different from 

 that of any other agricultural association established by our laws, 

 and as its members are, in the main, chosen by the other societies, it 

 is to be presumed that those persons selected as its members, are of 

 a class calculated to exert an influence, more or less extended, 

 throughout the limits of the various county societies. The Board is 

 thus brought into direct contact with every portion of the State, and 

 Avould seem to possess peculiar facilities for conducting the investiga- 

 tions which are needed in all departments of agriculture, which, as a 

 science, is as yet, very far from perfection. 



Hitherto the chief labor required by any course of investigation, 

 has been thrown upon the Secretary, and neither the Board nor the 

 people of the State can complain that his labors have not been v/ell 

 performed. But, in the vast range of subjects open for inquiry, the 

 Secretary, however efficient, must of necessity leave many points 

 untouched, and it would seem, therefore, that a much greater amount 

 of labor can be performed if every member of the Board is diligently 

 working upon the investigation of some agricultural topic. Besides,, 

 it seems by no means proper, that the Secretary of a body as numer- 

 ous as the Board of Agriculture, should be the only working agent,. 



