XIV ADVERTISEMENT. 



statute establishing agricultural societies, and granting to them pecuniary aid, 

 makes no provision for the collecting of information on these points. Perhaps 

 it was thought that the trustees of these societies would secure the accom- 

 plishment of the object, so far as it might be deemed desirable, by regulations 

 of their own. And we find, in fact, that several of the societies, at least, do 

 require accurate statements of this description from claimants of their pre- 

 miums. But the misfortune is, that these rules are imperfectly or not all com- 

 plied with. The returns made to this office, with some exceptions, are 

 deficient in accurate details of the modes of cultivation, of keeping stock, of 

 expenses, and of other important incidents. These details would acquaint 

 farmers and others with the precise manner in which the valuable results re- 

 corded can be again obtained, and would furnish the means by which a greater 

 and more general progress would be made in practical agriculture. 



The course adopted by our societies is, in the first place, to publish a list of 

 premiums for excellence in certain agricultural and mechanical productions. 

 Committees are then appointed to decide upon the claims of competitors. 

 Their awards are made and sanctioned by the societies, and the names of the 

 successful claimants of premiums are published in the newspapers. In some 

 cases, the written statements, required by the societies from the claimants, ac- 

 company the reports of the committees ; but more frequently there are none 

 made, and the reports are meagre from the deficiency of materials from which 

 to prepare them. It seems important, as well for the interests of the societies 

 as for the full accomplishment of the good results contemplated by the Act of 

 1845, that all our agricultural societies should not only establish rules requiring 

 these statements, but should enjoin and require a rigid adherence to the rules, 

 as a necessary condition of awarding their premiums. By pursuing this course 

 from year to year, our farmers would soon acquire habits of accurate observa- 

 tion and exact recording of processes and results. From the documents thus 

 produced, the whole agricultural community would learn what is most valuable 

 in farming and most worthy of imitation ; and would learn, too, how to imi- 

 tate it. Farmers would thus be the teachers and the taught. Throughout 

 the Commonwealth, they would form a class for mutual improvement. They 

 would not and could not complain of such instructors as mere book-farmers, 

 but would strive themselves so to excel, that their own course of husbandry 

 should be submitted in print to the imitation of others. 



Another source of valuable information for the pages of the annual volume, 

 is supplied by the public addresses usually delivered on the days of holding the 

 exhibitions of the societies. These addresses are generally prepared with care 

 by competent individuals ; and, besides aiding the cause of agriculture by im- 

 pressing on the farmers, assembled from different parts of the same county, the 

 importance and dignity of their calling, usually convey a large amount of 

 sound and judicious hints as to the practical details of the pursuit. These 

 addresses are frequently given to the public through the press, — a practice 



