246 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



letter of truth in making up his record, and he should be as 

 willing to give the public the statement of an unsuccessful ex- 

 periment as where the result is of the opposite character. 

 Says Von Thaer, " Science would have made much greater 

 progress if the false shame with which agriculturists conceal 

 every unsuccessful experiment, and the exaggerated manner in 

 which they often relate all those in which they have succeeded, 

 had not retarded its progress." 



Your committee regret that there have been but three entries 

 made for their consideration; but they are disposed to think 

 that another season will witness an increase in the number of 

 experimenters, and, as a consequence, an increase in the inter- 

 est and value of a report. 



The first entry was that of the chairman of this committee, 

 relating to his farm buildings, a statement concerning which 

 accompanies this report. The subject of this experiment is of 

 a character that should interest every one who contemplates 

 building, either now or in the future. If the work is permanent 

 and durable, — and we see no reason to question it, if due care 

 is exercised according to the suggestions of that statement, — it 

 is certainly a very important matter. There are very few farms 

 in this region of our country which would not afford the principal 

 materials required, merely for the picking up and carting, suffi- 

 cient to construct all the ordinary buildings desirable. And 

 when the house or barn is completed it is not a perishable 

 wooden structure, requiring frequent repainting, but it appears 

 to be of such a nature as to equal brick or stone in its durability. 



Statement of Jabez Fisher. 



I submit for the consideration of the " Committee on Exper- 

 iments connected with the Pursuit of Agriculture " my farm 

 buildings, with reference mainly to the materials of which they 

 are constructed. 



I do not pretend to any thing like originality in this experi- 

 ment, but merely claim to have demonstrated, to any one who 

 will take the pains to examine the work, the feasibility of the 

 plan as first published to the world by 0. S. Fowler, in a work 

 entitled "Homes for All." 



