304 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tion to every former who birys with ordinary care, and the 

 standard of quality is not only far higher but the means for 

 ascertaining this quality very much more within the farmer's 

 reach. This will be seen, on a moment's consideration, to be 

 a most important step in the way of progress. When the 

 production of farm crops was dependent chiefly on the manu- 

 rial supplies of the farm alone, there was a limit beyond 

 which no farmer could go in the profitable production of 

 human food. A perfected system of artificial supply of plant- 

 food, such as we have reason to anticipate in the not distant 

 future, will vastly increase the possibilities of production, and 

 place the practical pursuit of farming on a level with any 

 other branch of applied chemistry. Then capital will find 

 not only a safe, but a desirable and profitable investment in 

 farm operations, and thus aid in developing the productive 

 capacities of the Commonwealth. 



CHARLES L. FLINT, 



Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. 



Boston, January, 1877. 



