284 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the facts which you have given us. The only trouble has 

 been, that some of us who live at some distance from this 

 village have been denied the privilege of welcoming you to 

 our homes, sitting with you at our quiet tables and enjoying 

 your interesting and instructive conversation. 



Mr. Chairman (Secretary Russell), I want to thank you 

 for your inspiring presence here. I want to thank you for 

 the years of labor which you have given for the promotion 

 of the interests of the farmers of Massachusetts, for your 

 most happy and felicitous way of carrying forward the work 

 which you have had in hand. You have said that you do 

 not expect to go higher, that you have taken an honest pride 

 in your chosen work ; yet we know you will go higher, be- 

 cause, when a man is honest and disinterested, place him 

 where you will, he will remain faithful to his trusts. You 

 are a farmer yourself, and have been reared with farmers, — 

 honest men, proud of their calling. We know that you will 

 do the work in the higher position to which you have been 

 called with independence of thought and clearness of action, 

 and we have no fear that you will not give us all the " pro- 

 tection" that we need. [Applause.] 



Adjourned to 1.30 p. m. 



Afternoon Session. 



The closing session of the Board began at 1.30, and the 

 meeting was called to order by Mr. Goddaed. 



The Chairman. 1 have great pleasure in saying that we 

 are to hear from Major Alvord of the Agricultural College. 



Major H. E. Alvord. Mr. Chairman, there are points 

 which I wish first to mention. To begin with, I supposed 

 that the interest in dairy matters here in Barre and its 

 neighborhood was so largely confined to the production of 

 milk for sale or for manufacturing whole into cheese, that 

 butter making would not be a subject to attract much atten- 

 tion locally. In the second place, my grist about associated 

 creameries has been ground over so often in Western Massa- 

 chusetts before audiences in this part of the State, in the pub- 

 lic press and in the Massachusetts reports, that it cannot be 



