32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



subject a fair examination. We regret, however, that the gross and 

 culpable carelessness of those who have had charge of the papers and 

 applications transmitted to the Office of the Secretary of State, should 

 have suffered the larger portion of them to be irrecoverably lost, 

 previous to the passage of the Act referring them to the Board of 

 Agriculture. We have no means by which to determine with accu- 

 racy, at what stage of their progress to our hands this loss occurred, 

 but the blame is by no means lessened by the fact that the intrinsic 

 value of these papers was, in the aggregate, of but small amount. 

 They were public documents, awaiting their final disposition under a 

 special Act of the legislature, and their destruction is a deep reproach 

 to those who are the legal guardians of such documents. 



In the year 1852, there were in the State department, according to 

 a synopsis published by Hon. Amasa Walker, then Secretary of State, 

 fifty-two communications by as many diff"erent individuals resident in 

 Massachusetts, besides many others from persons residing in other 

 States, which did not accord with the requisitions of the law, and 

 therefore have not been examined by us. Of these fifty-two commu- 

 nications about twenty are now in existence, and the most careful 

 research by advertising and otherwise, has failed to discover any 

 portion of the remainder. 



Of those in our possession, some do not propose any distinct remedy 

 for the diseases of the potato, and of course could not be made the 

 subject of any experimental tests. Twelve of them, however, give 

 distinct formula of preparations, and the manner of preparing the 

 soil ; and we obtained leave from the superintending committee of the 

 State Farm, at Westborough, to select a proper portion of the farm 

 for applying the remedies recommended. The piece of land selected 

 was in the Warren lot, which had been trenched, and was so situated 

 that each lot (containing one-eighth of an acre) sloped gradually from 

 dry to moist land. 



These experiments Avere conducted under the direction of the under- 

 signed, with quite as much and probably more care than the various 

 processes would be likely to receive at the hands of any farmer man- 

 aging a large farm, and in one point or another, all failed to give 

 such results as would entitle them in any- way to the confidence of 

 the community, or as answering the requisitions of the law. Under 

 these circumstances, we do not hesitate to report decidedly, that no 

 one of the applicants is entitled to the premium off'ered by the State. 



John C. Bartlett. 

 Jabez Fishek. 

 Nathan Durfee. 



