380 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



tural Society, 1860 ; and Bristol County Central Agricultural 

 Society, 1862. 



In the ' ' Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and 

 Journal," Vol. III., 1813, p. 67, reference is made to the 

 Agricultural Society of East-Andover, County of Oxford ; 

 and in the same publication. Vol. IV., 1817, p. 282, to the 

 Shrewsbury United Agricultural Society, the Newbury Agri- 

 cultural Society, the Agricultural Society in Vassalborough 

 and the Danvers Agricultural Societ}^ ; but no act or date of 

 incorporation, if incorporated, of either has been found. 



The first general law relating to agricultural societies was 

 enacted at the January session in 1819, and was entitled 

 " An Act for the Encouragement of Agriculture and Manu- 

 factures." This law provided, under certain conditions, for 

 the payment of State bounty not exceeding $600 to each in- 

 corporated society. 



Acts of 1853, chapter 312, provided that "ten or more 

 persons, in any county, town, or city within the State, who 

 shall, by agreement in writing, associate for the purpose of 

 encouraging agriculture, horticulture, or improving and or- 

 namenting the streets and public squares of an}' city or town, 

 by planting and cultivating ornamental trees therein," might, 

 under certain conditions, associate together for said purposes. 



Hon. Amasa Walker, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 

 was one of the first to suggest the formation of farmers' 

 clubs. In an address before the Worcester South Agricul- 

 tural Society, on " The Farmers' Wants," he said : — 



Let us suggest then, as a commeucement of this experiment 

 of home education, that all the farmers in a town, desirous of 

 improvement, should assemble together and organize themselves 

 into an association or club, and establish a weekly meeting 

 during the most favorable season of the year.^ 



After outlining a plan for the carrying forward of the 

 work of such a club, he concluded his address with the fol- 

 lowing words : — 



In a few isolated cases, farmers' clubs have been formed and 

 found successful. To complete the system, we want these 

 small societies formed in all the towns, and the whole united 



' Agriculture of Massachusetts, 1855 (Part II.), PP- 336-34(>. 



