1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



147 



pie," — the very beginning of all right doing, 

 that a thing be done because it ought to be 

 done. — American Farmer, Maryland. 



A "WINTER MORNTNG. 



BY ANDREWS NORTON. 



The keen, clear air— the splendid Bight— 



"We waken to a world of ice, 

 Wliere all things are enshrined in Ught, 



As bj- some genii's quaint device. 



A shower of gems is strewed around, 

 The flowers of winter rich and rare, 



Rubies and sapphires deck the ground, 

 The topaz, emerald, all are there. 



The morning sun with cloudless rays, 

 His powerless splendor round us streams ; 



From crusted boughs, and twinkling sprays, 

 Fly back unloosed the rainbow beams. 



With more than summer beauty fair. 

 The trees in winter's garb are shown; 



What a rich halo melts in air, 

 Aroimd their crystal branches thrown I 



O God of Nature ! with what might 



Of beauty, showered on all below. 

 Thy guiding power would lead aright 



Earth's wanderer all thy lo%-e to know I 



MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OP AGRI- 

 CULTURE. 



The State Board of Agriculture met at the 

 office of the Secretary, at the State House, on 

 Thursday, Jan. 31st. Present, Messrs. Bill- 

 ings, Bull, Chadbourne, Clement, Davis, Hos- 

 mer, Hubbard, Huntington, S. Johnson. J. 

 Johnson, Jr., Iving, Moore, Perkins, Salton- 

 stall, Sanderson, Slade, Smith, Stedman, Stock- 

 bridge, Taft, Thompson, Ward and AYatkins. 

 Mr. Davis in the chair. 



Thursday's session was chiefly occupied bv 

 the delegates appointed to attend and report 

 upon the exhibitions of the several county so- 

 cieties. 



As we have not space this week for anv ex- 

 tended report of the proceedings during the 

 sessions of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of 

 last week, and of Monday and Tuesday of the 

 present week, we can only say that the busi- 

 ness has been transacted promptly, and that 

 the reports and discussions were most inter- 

 esting, — too interesting and valuable, it strikes 

 us, to be confined to a narrow room in the base- 

 ment of the capitol. True, they will be print- 

 ed and read, but why should not the livino- 

 voice as well as the printed report reach the 

 people who are interested in the subjects upon 

 which the Board have been in deliberation 

 these five days past ? 



Among the subjects which we were fortunate 

 enough to hear reported upon and discussed, 



were an essay by Prcs. Chadbourne on the 

 Culture of Chicorj'; by Mr. Smith, on the 

 management of Agricultural Societies ; by Mr. 

 Stockbridge, on Plants as an Indication of the 

 nature of the Soil ; by Mr. Moore, on the 

 Adaptation of Crops to Soils ; by Mr. Clem- 

 ent, on Transplanting Fruit and Forest Trees ; 

 by Mr. King, on the Cultivation of Cranber- 

 ries ; by Mr. Hubbard on Dairying ; by Mr. 

 Clement, on the Agriculture of Middlesex 

 county ; by Mr. Perkins on Agricultural Edu- 

 cation ; by Mr Hubbard on the Agriculture of 

 Worcester South, &c. 



Pres. Chadbourne made a statement m re- 

 lation to the State Agricultural College. His 

 suggestion that each of the twenty-five agri- 

 cultural societies, represented in this Board, 

 should, by subscription or otherwise, procure 

 a scholarship to be awarded by them, under 

 such regulations as they saw fit to prescribe, to 

 some meritorious young man who would en- 

 gage to remain in the county after his educa- 

 tion was completed, appeared to be well rc^ 

 ceived by the members of the Board, as were 

 also his other statements and suggestions in 

 relation to the institution of which he is now 

 the head. 



Among the many items of business which 

 were passed upon, the following seem to de- 

 serve an early publication : 



Voted, That the Secretary of this Board be re- 

 quested to notify all of the Societies receiving the 

 bounty of the State, that hereafter in addition to 

 the financial returns now required by law to be 

 made ou or before the 10th day of December, they 

 will be required to return a full and complete report 

 of their doings, printed in pamphlet form on or be- 

 fore the loth day of January following, and that the 

 Secretary will not be authorized to "certify to the 

 legislature, or to the State auditors that a society 

 has complied with the law and is entitled to its 

 bounty unless it has conformed to this require- 

 ment. 



Voted, That the several Agricultural Societies re- 

 ceiving the bounty of the State, l)e hereafter re- 

 quiicd to offer annually three premiums of not less 

 (>han eight, six, and four dollars, respectively, for 

 the best reports of Committees who recommended 

 premiums. 



1^^ The Rhode Island statute prohibits the 

 ofi'ering of quails or partridges for sale in the 

 markets after the 1st of January, and a Provi- 

 dence man was lately fined §2 and costs apiece 

 for every bird of a lot which he tried to sell in 

 violation of the law. The quails were killed in 

 Ohio, and brought to Providence for sale, but 

 the law did not recognize the distinction. 



t^' There are but seven scholars in the 

 Vermont Agricultural CoUesre. 



