iv REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



The show of swine was not large, but of good quality. Poultry 

 was in abundance, but did not claim my particular attention. The 

 show of sheep was worthy of especial notice. The flocks of beautiful 

 Merinos, Cotswolds and Southdowns brought vividlj'.to my mind the 

 scene, so often alluded to, of Elkanah Watson, exhibiting his im- 

 ported Merinos under the shade of Pittsfield's celebrated elm, more 

 than sixty j'ears ago. The old man, the tree, and the sheep, long 

 since passed awa}' ; but the spirit of this good man still lives, and 

 the stor}" of this first exhibition will be told to generations 3'et unborn. 

 It is well it should be so. We need all the inspiration that comes 

 from the good deeds of our ancestors. It is a happy thought that 

 good is immortal ; that a great thought or good deed never dies, 

 but lingers around the scene that gave it birth, to strengthen all that 

 comes within its influence. And if the spirit of this good man could 

 but look down and see the great good that has flowed from his early 

 endeavor, his highest ideal would be more than realized. 



Watson's unpretending show was made in October, 1810, and though 

 it excited the ridicule of the good people of that day and generation, 

 who looked upon such a thing with a feeling bordering almost upon 

 contempt, yet it was in reality the germ of the Berkshire Society, 

 whose exhibitions began the following year, and are believed to 

 have been the first count}' agricultural exhibitions held in this 

 country. From that small beginning, seen through the eyes of prej- 

 udice, chiefly perhaps because it was new, the whole system of 

 developing the material resources of the country by exhibitions has 

 grown up, and no one at this day can doubt that it has been pro- 

 ductive of vast good to the community. 



But to return to the more legitimate objects of this report, I will 

 say that every department of this exhibition was creditably repre- 

 sented and worthy the industry and enterprise of the farmers of 

 Berkshire. To give you a detailed report would be impossible, but 

 to give you some idea of its magnitude, I have only to enumerate 

 some of the entries made. In all there were between seventeen and 

 eighteen hundred, among which were the following : Field-crops, 350 ; 

 farms, 26 ; orchards, 25 ; reclaimed meadows, 5 ; and compost-heaps, 

 11. I was glad to to see the good example set by offering premiums 

 for the latter ; for with proper attention to the preparation of man- 

 ures, farming can be made profitable, while without it our sons are 

 compelled to seek other employments for a livelihood. I trust every 

 society in the State will follow this example, and acknowledge its 

 importance by offering premiums to its members to utilize all the 

 veo-etable and other convertible waste matters of the farm. About 

 one thousand premiums were paid, amounting in all to the sum of 

 $2,974. 



