vi REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



est herd exhibited was Mr. Anderson's selection of twenty-fonr 

 head, among which were five yearling heifers, averaging one thou- 

 sand two hundred and sixty pounds each, three ten months old 

 heifer calves, seven hundred pounds each. 



There were several other fine herds from Charlemont and the 

 adjoining towns. There were about twenty bulls, eleven thorough- 

 breds, of five different breeds, about fifty pairs of oxen and steers, 

 a goodly number of thoroughbred cows and heifers, making the 

 number of neat stock on exhibition over two hundred, a creditable 

 display- of quality as well as numbers for anj- communit}'. 



The show of swine was meagi-e, and the poultry' fever did not 

 seem ver}' contagious. There were several flocks of sheep, which 

 were a credit to their owners ; some fine specimens of trout, from 

 the hatching-ponds of Booth and Thayer, who are said to have sold 

 three hundred dollars' worth of these fish the past season, and are 

 anticipating a lucrative business in the future. 



The hall department of the fair was very creditable. There 

 were three hundred and forty entries in this department, including 

 grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, bread, honey and sirups, 

 mechanic arts, domestic manufactures, fancy articles, flowers, knit- 

 ting, with many fine specimens in each of the various collections. 



The societj-'s dinner being served up in pure agricultural st^de, 

 where the^* have something to eat, was discussed with that ability 

 and decorum of which practical agriculturists are possessed. Our 

 ph^-sical wants being fully supplied, the band led the crowd to the 

 speaker's stand, where, it had been announced, they would be ad- 

 dressed by ex-Governor Claflin. 



President Leavitt, having informed the audience that b}^ reason 

 of a railroad mistake the ex-Governor was not present, reported 

 somewhat the condition of the society ; then adopted a code of 

 entertainment, which in musical circles would be termed a swell, by 

 opening with the feeble efforts of your humble reporter, expanding 

 into a Doctor's Oratory, arriving at the full fortissimo of the Hon. 

 Joseph "White, of educational fame, thence receding in about the 

 same ratio with the lawyer's effort, culminating in a pianissimo, 

 which occupied an hour's time of an attentive audience. The re- 

 maining noticeable feature of the first da}- was a half mile foot-race, 

 with premiums, three, two and one dollars. 



On the second day the attendance was larger than on the preced- 

 ing da}', showing that " the horse will draw the crowd." Equally 

 ambitious seemed the horse, to demonstrate that there is not a 

 nobler animal for man's assistance than he, b}' calling into line one 

 hundred and twenty-two entries of his kind, and there was scarcely 

 a poor animal among them. The forenoon was spent in the exam- 



