No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xi 



Changes in membership resulting from elections by the 

 several societies will be given in the report of the committee 

 on credentials in the proceedings of the annual meeting. 

 Members retu'ing because of expiration of term of service 

 are : John S. Anderson of the Franklin County Agricul- 

 tural Society ; Johnson Whiting of the Martha's Vineyard 

 Agricultural Society ; W. M. Wellington of the Oxford 

 Agricultural Society ; H. H. Leach of the Spencer Farmers' 

 and Mechanics' Association ; and Albert H. Nye of the 

 Union Agricultuml and Horticultural Society. 



The Middlesex North Agricultural Society held no fair 

 and is not eligible to draw bounty. It will therefore lose 

 its meml)ership in the Board, and George W. Trull retires 

 from the Board for that reason. 



Meetings of the Board. 



On July 24, 1906, the Board held the most successful 

 summer meeting since the inauguration of this popular 

 feature of its work, at Whaloni Park, Fitchburg, with dem- 

 onstrations of practical problems of interest to farmers as 

 the main feature of the meeting. The attendance was the 

 largest ever gathered at a meeting of the Board of any kind, 

 and probably the largest ever present at an agricultural 

 meeting in the State, if we except the fairs of the agricul- 

 tural societies. It was generally estimated b}'- the press at 

 2,000, but this is probably excessive. A conservative esti- 

 mate of those in attendance at the demonstrations would 

 be about 1,200, more rather than less, but there were many 

 others on the grounds. 



Prof. F. S. Cooley of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 

 lege demonstrated the points of the dairy cow, scoring an 

 animal before him on the platform. Mr. Henry M. Howard 

 of West Newton illustrated the proper methods of planting, 

 setting and caring for market-garden crops, particularly let- 

 tuce, celery and cauliflower, to the great satisfaction of the 

 audience. Next came a demonstration of the proper methods 

 of packing apples for domestic and foreign markets, by 

 Hon. W. H. Blodget of Worcester, assisted by Mr. Wm. P. 

 Thayer. This important subject was thoroughly explained 

 and illustrated, and the farmers present were nmch pleased 



