REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 105 



MIDDLESEX SOUTH. 



In accordance with the appointment of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, I attended the Cattle Fair of the Middlesex South Agri- 

 cultural Society, at Framingliam, on the 19th of September, 

 1855. 



The Society is in its infancy, having been chartered in 1853, 

 this being its third Fair. 



Considering the time they have been in operation, they have 

 accomplished much ; and one thing, of vital importance in any 

 undertaking, they seem to have enlisted the energies of all the 

 people, male and female, to render their exhibition attractive 

 and useful. 



They have obtained about six acres of land, well located, and 

 enclosed it with a substantial fence, on which was erected a 

 tent for the exhibition of fruits, vegetables, and various speci- 

 mens of useful and fancy articles of female genius, bread, butter, 

 honey and jellies, — in fact, all the little luxuries, together with 

 the substantial, which evince a united effort to make up an 

 exhibition worthy of themselves, and a full compensation to all 

 who might, at almost any sacrifice, participate in the interests of 

 the occasion. 



In the vegetable and root department it is not necessary to 

 name the varieties, for they were all there, tastefully arranged, 

 in abundance, and of fine quality. The State of Maine potato 

 there, as at other shows, was the favorite, — exhibited by Mr. 

 Lewis, who had a very large collection of choice specimens, 

 embracing some twenty varieties of other vegetables. 



The cattle pens were arranged within the enclosure, and well 

 filled by cattle of the Jersey, Ayrshire, Devon and Durham 

 breeds, with grade stocks of various qualities. None were no- 

 ticed of very superior merit in their class, though good speci- 

 mens were numerous. 



The President of the Society, Mr. Buckminster, brought 

 upon the field for exhibition, a herd of Devons, of different 

 sizes and ages, from one to eight or ten years old, some twenty- 

 five head. They were not in the best condition ; but some of 

 them were good specimens of this stock, which is in high 



