xxvi BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Bulletins of Massachusetts Ageicultuke. 

 Tlie demand for these publications increased during the 

 year, and the first edition of Nos. 1 and 2, on poultry and 

 orcharding, were entirely exhausted. Calls for them accu- 

 mulated to such an extent that a reprint was imperative, and 

 they were issued during November in editions of 2,500 each. 

 These editions were revised and new matter was added, which 

 had appeared since the publication of the first edition. As 

 they stand to-day they are fairly complete text-books on the 

 subjects in question. New bulletins issued during the year 

 were, No. 3, " Grasses and forage crops," and No. 4, " Small 

 fruits and berries," the former in an edition of 2,000 copies 

 and the latter in one of 2,500. Bulletin No. 4 covers fruits 

 for the home garden, — peaches, pears, plums, quinces, 

 grapes, strawberries and cranberries, — and there is a con- 

 stant and increasing demand for it. Bulletins should be 

 issued as soon as possible on vegetables and vegetable grow 

 ing, dairying, animal husbandry and beekeeping. There is 

 a demand for information on all these lines which we cannot, 

 at present, satisfy. This demand and the need for these pub- 

 lications form an additional strong reason for the increase 

 of the appropi'iation for the " dissemination of useful infor- 

 mation in agriculture," previously referred to. 



Ceop Reports. 

 The monthly crop reports were issued from May to Octo- 

 ber, as usual. A new feature was the list of publications avail- 

 able for distribution, included in the report for August. A 

 supplementary list, giving those issued subsequent to the 

 printing of the previous crop report, has appeared in each 

 of the succeeding issues, and will be made a regular feature. 

 The issue for September contained a list of the annual reports 

 available for free distribution, with the principal articles 

 available in each. The special articles included in the various 

 issues, in order of appearance, from May to October, were: 

 " Corn selection for seed and for show," by Prof. Wm. D. 

 Hurd ; " Growing and marketing asparagus," by Frank 

 Wheeler ; " Alfalfa as a crop in Massachusetts," by Prof. Wm. 



