viii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



})roper part in the industrial development which has been so 

 marked a feature of the contemporary history of the republic. 



In this advance the Board has been an active factor, to- 

 gether with the agricultural societies, the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, the Hatch Experiment Station, the 

 grange and the minor organizations interested in the further- 

 ance of agricultural development. All these agencies have 

 worked together with a fair degree of harmony at all times, 

 and to-day there is to be seen a decided tendency on the 

 part of all the separate bodies to draw together and co-oper- 

 ate for the best interests of agriculture, with less of jealousy 

 and more of a spirit of disinterested desire for advancement 

 and upbuilding along agricultural lines. 



The work of the Board for the 3'ear just closed has been 

 along the usual lines, and, owing to the influences previously 

 noted, has l)een marked by more features from which genu- 

 ine pleasure and encouragement can be drawn than has often 

 been the case. The details of the work of the various de- 

 partments and bureaus of the Board appear in this report 

 under their separate headings. If the Board could have 

 done more, with the means at its command, for the advance- 

 ment of agriculture during the year, it has simply been that 

 we have failed to grasp our opportunities because of a lack 

 of foresight and shortness of vision, and not because of any 

 lack of energy or desire to do everything useful possible with 

 the means at our command. We shall welcome suggestions 

 for increased usefulness in the future from any source, and 

 stand ready to accept and profit by them in the spirit in 

 Avhich they may be made. 



Taken as a whole, the year has been a profitable one for 

 the farmers of Massachusetts, crops generally being good 

 and prices well up to the level required for profit. The corn 

 crop was an unusually valuable one, both as a grain crop 

 and for ensilage. There has not been a year for some time 

 that has been so favorable to the development, curing and 

 harvesting of this crop. The hny crop was unusually heavy 

 in most sections and generally secured in good condition, 

 the second crop being, generally speaking, a heavy one and 

 of good quality. With good crops of hay and corn our 



