Having at my personal expense obtained as exact returns as I 

 could get of the agricultural produce of several towns in different 

 parts of the Commonwealth, Pittsfield in Berkshire, Bernardston in 

 Franklin, Barre in Worcester, and Marlboro' in Middlesex, and 

 deeming these documents of much interest to the agricultural com- 

 munity, I shall annex the four last to this report, without delaying 

 their publication for the reports of the counties to which they appro- 

 priately belong. If desirable, they can be reprinted in their proper 

 connexion. 



I have procured for gratuitous distribution among the farmers, 

 some of the best wheat of Portugal ; of the best teasle seed from 

 Germany ; a barrel of genuine Italian wheat ; and a very superior 

 variety of Indian corn. I have likewise sent to Leghorn and Sicily 

 for the best varieties of Indian corn and wheat known in those coun- 

 tries. While I sustain my present official relation to the agriculture 

 of the Commonwealth I shall avail myself of every opportunity of 

 advancing in this or any other way the interests of the farmers. I 

 have already laid the foundation for the benefit of the Common- 

 wealth, of an agricultural museum, intended to embrace samples of 

 the best agricultural products of the State and country, which are 

 susceptible of permanent preservation. Several varieties of corn, 

 grains, and grasses, have been sent in ; and specimens of some val- 

 uable implements. 



I have taken measures to procure a complete collection of speci- 

 mens of the grasses of the Commonwealth ; and of the weeds most per- 

 nicious to agriculture ; in the hope, that from these beginnings, which 

 must necessarily be small, a respectable collection may be at last 

 formed, the utility of which must be obvious. 



The extensive correspondence occasioned by this appointment, 

 the various inquiries on agricultural subjects daily addressed to me, 

 and the respectable attendance upon the meetings of farmers and 

 others for agricultural conversation and discussion, which have been 

 held weekly during the session of the Legislature in the Represen- 

 tatives Hall, at the instance of the Commissioner, evince the con- 

 cern which is so extensively felt in this great interest of the com- 

 munity, and the strong desire for information. In being obliged 

 to go on thus single-handed, I cannot but hope that my strong claims 

 upon the candor of the agricultural community will be admitted. 



