6 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of tlie farm, while the Trustees, relieved from burdensome 

 care of so large a farm, have, it is believed, instilled a far 

 greater efficiency into the management of the affairs of the 

 institution under their charge, so that the Commonwealth has 

 been the gainer in every respect. 



hi order to give a more distinct idea of the comparative 

 operations of the Board at the farih, it may not be improper 

 to allude to the amount of earnings of the boys, previous to 

 and since the time when the Board assumed the control of the 

 farm. This comparison is not made to disparage the manner 

 in which the farm was managed before it came into the hands 

 of the Board, but simply to show that the management of the 

 farm by the Board of Agriculture has been as judicious as 

 could be expected from any body of men, and for the interests 

 of the Commonwealth. It will appear from the following 

 statistics, that gross misrepresentations have from time to time 

 been made, with regard to the expenditures of the public 

 money and the operations on the farm, though it should be 

 said to the credit of the people, and of the members of the 

 legislatures which have made the requisite appropriations for 

 the farm, that the misrepresentations referred to had little or 

 no influence on their action. 



By an examination of the reports of the State Reform 

 School for the live years previous to 1854, when the Board, at 

 the request of the Trustees, assumed the management of the 

 farm, it appears that the whole amount earned by the boys was 

 less in proportion than during the five years since 1854, or the 

 comparison may be stated as follows : — 



