5 
PREFACE. 
unsatisfactory and unprofitable; whereas, a report em¬ 
bracing such reasons, and, perhaps, also, a carefully pre¬ 
pared discussion of the general subject involved, would 
constitute a valuable paper for study and preservation, 
and at the same time confer an honor upon the author as 
enduring as the records of the Society. May we not 
hope that many such reports will be furnished for the 
volume of Transactions for 1860? 
The Reports of the County Societies are equally faulty. 
The law does not require, as a sine qua non , a concise, 
general exhibit of the condition of the agriculture of the 
counties of the State, and hence no such statement is 
furnished; but who does not see that reports of this 
character would exert a highly beneficial influence upon 
the counties themselves, and that the volume which 
should contain those reports would be a storehouse of 
information on the industrial condition and progress of 
the State? The Abstracts of Reports for 1859 are neces¬ 
sarily brief, because of the unexpectedly large amount 
of matter furnished by the Fruit Growers’ Association, 
the great importance and practical value of which, will, 
however, more than justify the appropriation thereto of 
so large a share of space. 
Of the Essays, Addresses, and Communications, which 
enrich and embellish this volume, there are many things 
we would be glad to say, did space permit a special no¬ 
tice ; as it is, we content ourself with the statement, that 
they have been furnished by some of the ablest practi¬ 
cal and scientific men in our country, are eminently 
worthy of a careful perusal, and justly entitle their au¬ 
thors to the gratitude of the Society and the friends of 
agricultural advancement generally. Several papers of 
