6 



called the Prickley Ccmfrey, for feeclirg stock. Its ctaracter- 

 istics are hardiness, deeply rooted, and from one acre one 

 hundred tons have been gathered. Three crops in one season 

 ensures thriving cows and plenty of milk. There were oats 

 and onions grown without manure on the reclaimed marshes by 

 Dr. Henry, and Mr. Estes of Duxbury. The season favored 

 grass, oats and roots of various kinds, and the farmer as he 

 steps on the threshold of the New Year, sees the old promise 

 kept and the equilibrium restored. Surely better crops are 

 commensurate with more interest ■ and intelligence, but with 

 renewed effort, even in poor seasons, we may make our future 

 exhibitions better than ever before. The farmer has poor 

 reasons for grumbling ; the hardest worked farmer has more 

 secured this winter than he is willing to speak of. He is in the 

 habit of repeating the hackneyed phrase, "farming does not 

 pay." Then nothing pays. This is the source of all wealth. 

 To those who lack hope we commend the motto : Onward. 

 Our Society has not only the example and inspiration of the 

 past, it has preeminently the means to mark out fields for per- 

 manent improvements. There will ever appear signs of decay 

 and perils to encounter ; but in improved forms this movement 

 will continue because it is a necessity. The adventurer who 

 goes from one fair to another to secure the premiums, with 

 little love for the Society or cause of Agriculture, is not the 

 material for a healthy growth. The honest farmer should 

 weed out parasites of this character. The state needs an 

 experimental station from which will come careful investiga- 

 tions into the nature of the soil and the plants from which we 

 gain the food of life. These results will find their way to every 

 farmer. The Farmers' Institute, like the field of actual experi- 

 ment, is an educator. This department needs more perfect 

 seeds. The loss and waste of labor from poor seeds amounts 

 to many millions of dollars and many disappointments. Give 

 statements of the methods of culture ; arrange all your contri- 



