rights, for farmers have rights-by the virtue of the property they own, taxes they pay, and votes they cast. When we consider how cheerfully they have submitted to-nay, often cordially supported measures for the advancement of our varied industry, it is surprising they have not asked more for themselves; and when they see how these have advanced with rapid strides, while they have been stationary or retrograde, what shall be said? Were the 46,904 owners of farms and their 68,636 employees united upon any plan, their requests would certainly be heeded. But the desired end may be secured without one class of citizens arraying themselves against another, the interests of all classes are in the main identical; every man, woman and child in the commonwealth, has an interest in any project which will improve the quality and increase the quantity of food. Our manufacturers, from their peculiar location, will think more of this subject in future, for they soon will meet with sharp competition from the rising establishments at the West and South, and they will find it quite enough to transport coal and raw material to this corner of the Union, and carry their goods or wares to distant markets, without sending a thousand miles or more for provision for their workmen. They must have some material advantages in order to continue to make their profits; one of these should be cheap labor; cheap labor depends upon cheap food, and where shall they obtain the cheap food? Shall it be from our own fields, or from the West? If from the West, Western manufacturers will have it still cheaper. It has been a pet theory with many of our leading men, that it is cheaper to bring provisions from the West, than to raise them from our own soil, and an enormous expense has been incurred in opening various lines of communication with more fertile lands; still, the price of staple products has steadily advanced and the markets in and around Boston, are the dearest in the Union, for purchasing food, if we except the mining districts; this will continue to be the case so long as the acres within our own limits and within full view of our workshops, are neglected and we depend upon localities far away. Bushels are bushels, barrels are barrels and tons are tons, and it will require as much force to move them thirty years hence as now, and the older, richer and more influential railroad companies grow, the less disposed are they to carry for low rates. The true working of this plan will ere long be apparent, and it will be seen that if some of the states' money that has been furnished for the construction of railroads to carry it into execution, had been expended in the promotion of our agriculture, it would prove a better investment. After all that may be said, our manufacturers, in reality, are sensibly affected by the prosperity of the farmer; they desire our markets to be cheaply supplied with provisions in abundance. If our farmers will now develop their resources, show the capacity of the soil, and their ability to furnish the markets, every plan for the promotion of agriculture will be promptly seconded and supported. Were there no higher motive, a State pride should prompt every citizen to speak a good word for the advancement of this important branch of industry, for will it not be gratifying as we travel from town to town, county to county, through the length and breadth of the State to see the rough fields made smooth, the waste places productive, all the steep, bleak hillsides again clothed with trees, valleys full of waving grain and well-kept flocks and herds, and every acre producing its full quota, to see around the S ESSAYS AND REPORTS. There were but three Essays submitted to your Committee for examination, neither of which seemed to merit the first premium of the Society. The essay on Horned Cattle, in the opinion of your Committee seemed to open up a subject in which every farmer has a personal interest, and on which there is a great diversity of opinion, and although your Committee were not clear whether the writer intended to give his own experience from a practical knowledge of the whole question, or whether it embodied his own theory from observation, still this essay may awaken a new interest in this important question. They therefore award the second premium to Joseph Kittridge, of North Andover. The Essay on the Agriculture of Massachusetts, shows extensive research, and that its author had a desire to present this question to the consideration of his readers, in a manner sometimes the most effective, through the medium of the pocket. The result of his examination is summed up in a series of statistics in a concise form which will be useful for future reference. If the author had presented his views in a more direct manner, reducing it very much in length, we think it would have presented all that is really valuable, and it would be more likely to receive the careful attention of those for whose benefit it was prepared. We award the third premium to W. A. Durant, of Lawrence. VEGETABLES. The Committee would invite the personal attention of the members of the Society, to the Report on Vegetables. The subject is one in which the community has a personal interest, and one that we trust will tell in the future, by an endeavor to consider the quality of our farm products worthy the careful attention of every farmer, rather than the desire to be chronicled as the producer of some mammoth monstrosity unfit to be eaten by man or beast. We award the first premium of diploma and $10 to J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead. MANURES. The report on Manures is one in which every farmer has a personal interest. There is but little doubt that we suffer from the want of a sufficient quantity of fertilizers for the breadth of land under cultivation. He that will enable the farmer to make a wise choice out of the many preperations that are offered to his notice may be considered a public benefactor. We think the experiments of the author of this report, and his ability to speak from his own experience worthy of the careful thought of every agriculturalist. We award the second premium of eight dollars to James R. Nichols, of Haverhill. ROOT CROPS. This report seemed to your Committee of much importance, and one in which every member of the Society has an interest. "Like labor, will produce like results." The author has giv. en his personal attention to the department assigned him, and we think that the result of his labor will stimulate others to try and improve upon the results furnished in this report. We recommend the third premium of $6 to Andrew Nichols, of Danvers. Your Committee, in submitting their views on the matters assigned them, do so with a sense of their inability to speak 1 We with that confidence which will give weight to their opinions. For the Committee-James Kimball, Chairman. 4 |