Excerpt from The Agriculture of Massachusetts: As Shown in Returns of the Agricultural Societies, 1853 The materials of which the present volume is composed are of unusual value, and the societies were probably never in a more flourishing condition than at present, all but four having published their Transactions. The distribution of its volume of Transactions is one of the most efficient means which a County Society has of awakening an interest in the subject of Agriculture. One great object of such society, with the aid of the bounty of the Commonwealth, should be to create an interest where but little exists, and no society can attain its highest usefulness, which has not vitality enough to publish, and to obtain a general distribution of its proceedings. It is believed that the expense of publication would be both judicious and economical, even if its Transactions should be placed in the hands of every farmer in the county, whether a member of the society or not. It is wholly impossible to give any society the credit and position in this volume which it may deserve, unless its returns are properly made. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.