BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



RESPONSE FOR THE BOARD, BY JOHN BURSLEY. 



I think that that illustration of a farmer being a little 

 of everything pretty nearly tits my case, for to take a farmer 

 who has this morning milked his cows and come more than 

 100 miles, and expect him to respond to this welcome that we 

 have hoard, is a feat which takes a little of everything in 

 a farmer. Now, I say to you, Mr. Chairman, that I know 

 our Board appreciates your invitation. Those of us who are 

 the older men in connection with the Board remember the 

 very pleasant meetings and pleasant receptions held here 

 somewhere along in 1004 or 1905, and a few of us, possibly, 

 like myself, remember the meeting here in 1884 or 1885, 

 and we also remember the cordial welcome that we received 

 at both of those meetings and all the information that we 

 gained from the speakers there present, and I know that this 

 meeting will not be different from those. It will be fully the 

 equal of them, I am sure, after scanning the program that 

 the secretary and his advisers have prepared, and knowing 

 as I do what the good people of South Framingham and the 

 adjacent country will do in the line of attendance and in- 

 terest. 



I think I may be pardoned, Mr. Chairman, if at this time 

 I go a little bit into raking up some of the old thoughts that 

 come into my mind, and possibly, as I have been connected 

 with this Board for nearly two decades, I may be allowed 

 to tell you a little something of what our work is. What our 

 work was and what it is now are two very different proposi- 

 tions. During the last decade, even, the work that the 

 Board is called upon to do through its executive officers has 

 more than quadrupled. You yourself, sir, alluded to the 

 fact that the business had constantly increased, and I think 

 you put it small ; I think it has increased much more than 

 even you are aware of. The countless inquiries that the 

 office is receiving through the mail and through personal ap- 

 plications on matters connected with our agricultural inter- 

 ests is hard to imagine unless one is in daily touch with 

 the office and the demands there are upon it; and it is 



