78 ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



county, is raised in the county 7 I ask each of you, without 

 consultation with others, to give mc your opinion on this ques- 

 tion. Hand in your ballots, if you please. Our notions on 

 these subjects are apt to be vague and indefinite. It should be 

 the aim of societies like this to correct them. The merchant, 

 who wishes to conduct his business with success, has his cor- 

 respondents in all directions, and understands, from them, the 

 prospect and the state of the market. Before he undertakes to 

 forward a cargo, he inquires whether it will be wanted, where 

 it is to be sent. Why should not the farmer do the same, before 

 he undertakes to plant his fields '? True, he knows that a cer- 

 tain portion of produce will be needed for the consumption of 

 his family, because his father before him raised about this 

 amount. But the man who is ambitious of being considered 

 an intelligent cultivator, should not rest satisfied with this 

 knowledge. Is it not possible to adopt a plan of securing re- 

 turns annually, from every town in the county, of such statisti- 

 cal information, as, when properly arranged, would be of great 

 value ? Who can so properly undertake this matter, as the Ag- 

 ricultural Society of the county ? The State Society of New 

 York requires this of every County Society. The State Society 

 of Massachusetts, when under the guidance of a Lowell and 

 other kindred spirits, used to do something to encourage and en- 

 lighten the farmers of the State. Since the County Societies 

 have presumed to start ahead, the State Society seems to have 

 been stationary. Any one, who sees what is doing, annually, 

 in the State of New York, will be satisfied that much remains 

 to be done in Massachusetts. A review of the State Agricul- 

 tural Record will show that much remains to be done ; and that 

 new exertions are necessary, to enable us to keep pace with the 

 improvements of the age. 



Those, who had the privilege of being present at the early 

 meetings of the trustees, will remember the interest that was 

 awakened by the discussions that were introduced. Latterly, 

 the meetings have been so entirely occupied with the transac- 

 tion of business, that little or no time has been given to dis- 

 cussion. If the meetings could be more frequent, with an 

 understanding that gentlemen would come prepared to commu- 



