^74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The above table shows the work accomplished by the 

 inspectors of animals in various cities and towns. 



No reports have been received from the following towns : — 



Deerfield, Sudbury, Waltham, 



Maynard, Swampscott, Watertown, 



Melrose, Tyngsborough, Woburn. 



Reports from the following towns are incomplete : — 



Ashland, Newton, Royalston, 



Berkley, Nortli Adams, Shelburne, 



Bolton, Northampton, Taunton, 



Hadley, Noithfield, Topsfield, 



Hamilton, Peabody, Walpole, 



Monson, Pembroke, Washington, 



Needham, Plymouth, Westhampton, 



Newbury port, Princeton, Wrenthani. 

 New Marlborough, Rowe, 



In Melrose the inspector died, and a new one was appointed 

 about the middle of November, when the inspection should 

 have l)een brought to a close ; and in Waltham the inspector 

 left town, and another was appointed at about the same time. 

 This accounts for no reports being received from these two 

 cities. 



The report of the inspectors of animals is in the main not 

 as full as in many of the preceding years. 



Many of the inspectors of animals are painstaking, con- 

 scientious men ; while others are careless, and do not take 

 the pains in the performance of their duties that they should. 

 The trouble in the latter cases is perhaps not altogether the 

 fault of the inspectors, as in some towns the position is not 

 considered of the importance that it really is, and the select- 

 men appoint the man who will do the work the cheapest ; 

 consequently the duties in such towns are not well performed, 

 because no one can afford to do them properly for the price 

 jxiid. In a few cases there has been a tendency to make the 

 position a reward for political services ; but this has been 

 checked, as the appointments are made subject to the ap- 

 proval of the Chief of the Cattle Bureau, and in two or three, 

 instances confirmation of appointees has been withheld until 

 a suitable person was named for the position. 



