126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the comparison is not a fair and candid one, let me stand corrected 

 now and here. But, says one, the trials of speed at fairs bring in 

 their train a long array of evils ; they lead to drunkenness, to foul 

 speech, to low associates, to betting and gambling, and to numer- 

 ous vices which ctirse society, and which it should be the object 

 of all good men to help banish from among us. That these do fol- 

 low in some instances cannot be doubted, even by the best men 

 and the most ardent lover of the horse — that they follow invari- 

 ably, and as a matter of course, must be emphatically denied. Is 

 it so hard a matter, as many would try to make us think, to con- 

 duct an agricultural fair without in some way countenancing these 

 evils, or winking at their presence ? I will endeavor to answer if 

 you will bear with me a few moments. 



In this State there are thirty-three local agricultural societies 

 from which returns have been received during the past year. 

 Nineteen of these societies show by their returt)s that they have 

 awarded premiums for trials of speed ; three say emphatically they 

 have not, and the blanks from ten others would indicate either that 

 they did not offer any or that none were awarded. One society 

 which paid a total of $17,760 in premiums, paid $1 100 for trials of 

 speed ; another, which paid $239 for trials of speed, paid $4 for 

 milch cows; and a third, wliich paid over $100 for speed, paid $5 

 for milch cows. Generally, it appears from the returns, that those 

 societies which have awarded no premiums whatever for trials of 

 speed, have awarded the highest premiums for milch cows. These 

 figures are suggestive and appear in quite striking contrasts — but 

 if the whole list could be gone through with in detail, I think it 

 would appear that the statement often made by opponents of trials 

 of speed, that it receives an undue share of the premiums awarded, 

 would not be sustained. It might, however, enforce upon the 

 mind the wisdom of that clause in our statute which gives to the 

 Board of Agriculture the direction of the expenditure of one-half 

 of the sum given by the State to local societies. In Massachu- 

 setts — where the State Board exercises no such control — there 

 was awarded by its agricultural societies in 1874, $2,373 in pre- 

 miums on all classes of live stock, and $12,545 for trotting horsos 

 alone. In that State all but six of its thirty-one agricultural soci- 

 eties show an individual indebtedness of from $100 to $36,000 — the 

 greater part of them ranging up among the thousands. Of the 

 thirty-three local societies in this State, but fifteen, or less than 

 half, are carrying any liabilities whatever, and in most of these 



