ANNUAL REPORT. vii 



The annual country meeting of the Board was held at 

 Barre ; it continued through three days ; the attendance was 

 large and enthusiastic. The lectures and subsequent discus- 

 sions are printed in this volume. 



I should be glad to say that we were enjoying our usual 

 immunity from diseases of cattle ; but, in fact, owing to the 

 lax laws or lack of law in other States, we are invaded by 

 pleuro-pneumonia from several points. 



We have a cattle commission clothed with ample powers, 

 a disposition to enforce the law and the experience of the 

 past to guide our steps, so that there is no fear that conta- 

 gious cattle diseases will make a permanent lodgment in 

 our herds. The dairy is the leading interest of our farmers. 

 Our cities are supplied with milk from our farms, and though 

 we are not subject to competition from abroad, the profits of 

 the business are small, owing to the fact that the farmers are 

 under the control of the contractors and other middlemen, 

 •who make great profits out of a business that should, through 

 co-operation, be controlled by the milk-producers. As we 

 purchase the greater part of our grain from the West, we 

 have a deep interest in the eflect of the Inter-State Com- 

 merce Law, especially upon the business of milk-producing. 

 At the end of another year, through the investigation of the 

 granges and the discussions at our meetings, the effect of 

 this law upon our farming will be well understood. 



JOHN E. RUSSELL, 



Secretary of the Stale Board of Agriculture. 

 Boston, February, 1887- 



