160 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



These statistics show an increase of nearly fifty per cent, in 

 three years. 



The kind of poultry one keeps is fast getting to be the 

 index of his intelligence, general culture and taste. The farm- 

 house that is without them lacks one of the most essential 

 elements of rural beauty and comfort. Multiply the objects 

 of interest on a farm, crowd it with all the beauty you can, 

 whether of flower, shrub, bird or beast, and the investment 

 will pay in added enjoyment, especially to the young. In the 

 language of Dickens, "The wings of our agricultural enjoy- 

 ments should never be permitted to moult a feather." The 

 cultivation of a taste for choice poultry will develop one for 

 other blooded stock, from which alone certain results can be 

 obtained. 



Fancy poultry, like thoroughbred stock-raising, or fancy 

 farming, has its grand purpose, to divert those who have 

 means, from too close attention to the counting-room and 

 the warehouse, to the free and pleasing occupation of ex- 

 perimental farming, with its variety of pursuits, and its 

 healthful and sanitary relaxation. 



Alexander Macy, Jr., Chairman. 



