XX BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Massachusetts Agricultural College. 



This institution, the farmer's college of Massachusetts, and 



the child, in a sense, of this Board, has made a steady and 



gratifying advance during the year. The total attendance 



at the college is the largest that it has been in the history 



of the institution, and there appears to be every prospect 



that there will be continued increase for several years to 



come. To care for the students who are coming to the col- 

 es 



lege an increased equipment and teaching force is required. 

 It is doubtful if more students than are at present in attend- 

 ance can be cared for satisfactorily with the present equip- 

 ment. In the nature of the work at the college, classes or 

 sections of classes cannot be large and still receive proper 

 instruction. I trust that the Legislature will see the neces- 

 sity for increased equipment, and make the necessary appro- 

 priations for that purpose. A new set of greenhouses is 

 among the imperative necessities of the institution. Those 

 now on the grounds have been in use for forty years, and it 

 is absurd to suppose that proper instruction in greenhouse 

 work, which is one of the principal specialties of Massa- 

 chusetts, can be carried on with an antiquated equipment. 

 The appropriation of last year was insufficient to complete 

 the botanical building, and an additional appropriation must 

 be asked for that purpose. There are many other improve- 

 ments needed at the college, and I would recommend that 

 this Board place itself on record as favoring every appropria- 

 tion asked for that will tend to the increased efficiency of 

 the institution as an educational institution. 



The experiment station will soon be in receipt of increased 

 funds under the Adams act, and will be in a position to 

 continue and amplify its very efficient work. 



The Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths. 

 The work against these insects has continued during the 

 year under the direction of the State superintendent, A. H. 

 Kirkland, M.S., and along the lines laid down in the act 

 establishing the work in 1905. I am confident that the 

 work is ])eing carried on in the best possible manner, with 

 conditions as they are under the present plan of suppression. 



