1884.] CONNECTICUT STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 341 



CONNECTICUT STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At the annual meeting of the Society, I was directed to prepare 

 a Report of the Society for printing in the Report of the Board of 

 Agriculture. Space will not allow of any extended report. 



The synopsis of the Report of the Treasurer and Corresponding 

 Secretary, as contained in the tables, exhibits the financial condi- 

 tion of the society. The Fair at Meriden was a decided success. 

 The improvement in the neat stock of the State, as manifested in 

 these exhibitions during the last thirty years, is very gratifying. 

 The show in Horticulture, and most other departments, testifies to 

 encouraging progress. Sheep and swine are annually exhibited 

 in decreasing numbers, yet their quality, as adapted to our present 

 wants, is improving. The liberal premiums offered should draw 

 out more competition, and that any premiums should be awarded 

 without special merit, is not the fault so much of those who do 

 exhibit and take premiums, as of those who fail to present better 

 ones in competition. This suggestion is not made to apply espec- 

 ially to the small exhibits of sheep and swine, but to every class 6f 

 animals, and to every article in the Dairy or Horticultural and 

 Agricultural exhibits. To share in the fullest benefits offered by 

 the Society, every producer in the State should exhibit his pro- 

 ducts and' test their relative value in comparison with what others 

 in the same line are producing. The varied industries of Connec- 

 ticut on the farm and in the shop, furnish materials for a show 

 only surpassed by National or World's Fairs. 



T. S. GOLD, 

 Recording Secretary Connecticut Agricultural Society. 



