84 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



bers, the results of which are reported to the Club. From the 

 record of the secretary, we learu that the subjects thus assigned 

 for the last year, were — Drainage, Ploughing in Green Crops, 

 Charcoal as a Fertilizer, Salt for the Destruction of Insects, 

 Bones as Manure for Pear Trees, Relative Value of Bones, 

 Pliosphate of Lime, Plaster, &c., for different crops. 



We are not aware that the reports on these subjects have 

 yet been made public. If the experiments were properly 

 conducted, the results could not fail to be interesting and 

 valuable. We would suggest that they be' reported for the 

 Transactions of this society, in order that the public may 

 know the conclusions arrived at, and the manner in which the 

 experiments were conducted. We would suggest, also, that 

 the experiments be repeated from year to year, until a suc- 

 cession of results may indicate a reliable solution of the 

 questions involved. 



About two hundred persons, comprising the members of the 

 Club with their families and invited guests of both sexes, 

 attended the festival alluded to. The company partook of a 

 substantial dinner, after which appropriate speeches were made 

 by various gentlemen — the exercises being agreeably inter- 

 spersed with rural songs. The occasion was a pleasant, and 

 we trust, a profitable one, to all present. 



The committee may here say that they have great confidence 

 in the usefulness of farmers' clubs, under judicious manage- 

 ment. Their advantages have long been acknowledged in 

 England and Scotland — some of the most important improve- 

 ments in agriculture in those countries, having originated with 

 these associations. In our own country they have not been 

 numerous till within a few years, but their benefits are already 

 apparent. We need not enter into an argument to show hoiu 

 they tend to improve the " soil and the mind " — the fact 

 is obvious to all who properly consider the subject. We would 

 suggest to the society the expediency of offering special encour- 

 agement to farmers' clubs, by a premium to such as should 

 exhibit proof of having brought out the most valuable results, 

 in the solution of questions, the suggestion or attainment of 

 improvements, or in any way eliciting light in the various 

 departments of agriculture. 



