xii EEPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



writer may be permitted to state, that fifty years ago he was accus- 

 tomed to exchange goods with the merchants of this region for new 

 milk cheese at six cents per pound and two cents for skim milk.] 



The show of vegetables was inferior to those offered at our exhibi- 

 tions near Boston, but the display of fruit was excellent. The 

 apples for which Barre and this section is so noted, were of extraor- 

 dinary fine character, and although this was the non-bearing year, 

 generally, yet here the trees were fully laden with their golden and 

 ruddy fruit. The Gravensteins, Baldwins, Hubbardstons, Porters and 

 others would compare favorablj- with any exhibition in the State. 

 Some of the pears were also of marked excellence. 



The flowers, ladies' work and the usual articles in the exhibition- 

 hall, your delegate had not time to examine, being called from 

 his labors to refreshment at the dinner-table in the upper hall. 

 Here about four hundred ladies and gentlemen partook of an excel- 

 lent repast. President Twichell presided, with marked ability and 

 great humor, calling out Governor Gaston and other guests in a 

 very playful manner. His Excellenc}' made a most effective speech 

 in advocacy of the cause of agriculture. Responses were made by 

 Hon. F. F. Fay, ex-member of this Board, Col. Charles W. Wilder, 

 of the governor's staff, and a poem, " Does Farming Pay ?" by Henry 

 S. Goodale, member of this Board, and your delegate, whom the presi- 

 dent introduced as the orator invited twenty-five years ago to deliver 

 the first address before the Society, but whom he had not been able 

 to catch until the present time, and then and there demanded the 

 service from him. This was complied with in a short and summary 

 manner, expressing his obligations for the courtesies and respect 

 shown him and his satisfaction with what he had seen and the pleasure 

 he had experienced in his visit to the Societ}', and to this county, the 

 home of his ancestors. He desires also to acknowledge with 

 gratitude the attentions which he received from President Twichell 

 and other friends, and especially from Mr. Ellsworth, for the oppor- 

 tunity of examining his model farm, and to his good lady, under 

 whose hospitable roof he was so kindly cared for. 



Marshall P. Wilder. 



WORCESTER NORTH. 



The duty of attending as delegate to the Worcester North was 

 a ver}' pleasant one. The weather was all that could be desired, 

 and the exhibition in the various departments was well worth}^ of the 

 study of the unusually large crowd that swarmed upon the grounds. 



