ADVERTISEMENT. Xiil 



State, on or before the first day of January, in every year, embracing all reports of com- 

 mittees, and all statements of experiments and cultivation, deemed, by the officers of the 

 several societies, worthy of publication. 



Sect. 2. The secretary of each society, whether his return be in printed or manuscript 

 form, shall mark, in a manner to be easily distinguished, those passages in the several re- 

 ports and statements which he regards as most worthy of public notice, study and applica- 

 tion. 



Sect. 3. The Secretary of State is directed to transmit a copy of this act to the secre- 

 tary of every incorporated agricultural society in the Commonwealth, on or before the first 

 day of September, 1845. 



Sect. 4. The Secretary of State is hereby directed to cause as full an abstract from 

 said returns to be made and published in each year, for distribution, as in his judgment will 

 prove useful. 



Sect. 5. Any agricultural society which shall neglect, in any year, to comply with the 

 provisions of this act, shall forfeit its claim to bounty from the Commonwealth the succeed- 

 ing year. 



Sect. 6. Any parts of passed acts inconsistent with the provisions of this, are hereby 

 repealed. 



The present publication is the first which has taken place under the authority 

 of the Act of 1845. The Societies have all complied with its provisions so far 

 as to furnish a summary of their proceedings for the year; but more than half 

 of them have neglected that, part of the law which requires them to mark 

 those passages deemed by their secretaries worthy of public notice, study and 

 application. All the returns were made within the legal time, with the excep- 

 tion of that of the society in Bristol. 



Of these returns, the most complete is that of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society, which, from its long experience in publishing annually a volume of its 

 transactions, has attained to a high rank in the fulness of its reports and the 

 exactness of its statements. The Worcester and the Plymouth Societies' 

 returns are also highly satisfactory. The Hampden Society, considering its 

 youth, (it having been established but two years), has made a very credilable 

 return of its doings. The officers of all the societies have appeared desirous 

 of furthering the design of the Legislature in enacting the law of last year, 

 by making as full a return as the character of their proceedings admits. 



The object of the law obviously is, to bring together the practical knowl- 

 edge of our best farmers, horticulturists and manufacturers, in their respective 

 branches of labor. In order to secure a valuable volume of this description, 

 the Legislature of New York, in a law similar to our own on this subject, 

 requires of all agricultural societies receiving the bounty of the State, that 

 "before any premium shall be delivered, the person claiming the same, or to 

 whom the same may be awarded, shall deliver in writing, to their respective 

 officers, as accurate a description of the process in preparing the soils, including 

 the quantity and quality of the manure applied, and in raising the crop or feed- 

 ing the animal, as may be ; and also of the expense and product of the crop, 

 or of the increase in value of the animals, with the view of showing accurately 

 the profit of cultivating the crop or feeding or fattening the animal."' Our 



