118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



But few milch cows were presented ; none of any marked 

 distinction. Tlie want of competition for the liberal premium 

 offered by the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, 

 for the best dairy of six cows, is very much to be regretted. Of 

 what avail is it to offer premiums, if farmers will not compete 

 for them ? 



Of sheep, but a small number were exhibited ; none of any 

 note, except four Oxfordshire lambs, by Lawrence Smith, of 

 Middlefield. Of swine, some few specimens were shown ; none 

 of marked excellence. In the drawing match there were thir- 

 teen trials with cart and load of thirty-three hundred and sixty 

 pounds. The drawing was passable, but the backing was de- 

 cidedly bad. The oxen manifested great want of training and 

 subjection to their drivers. In the ploughing match were four- 

 teen competitors, — one ox and thirteen horse teams, and one 

 double plough. The work was well done and in good time. Tiie 

 advantage of the double plough was manifest, it leaving the 

 soil lighter and in much better condition for the crop than the 

 single plough. The horse show was not large. The horses 

 exhibited were generally good, but none of much note in their 

 class. In the fruit department there was a large display of 

 more than five hundred plates. One gentleman, W. A. Arnold, 

 exhibited fifty varieties of apples. William Clark, Edward 

 Clark and Benjamin Barrett presented many varieties of fine 

 apples. Mrs. Woodward had some beautiful specimens of 

 grapes upon the table. J. W. Wilson, the spirited secretary of 

 the society, did himself and the show credit by exhibithig the 

 best and largest variety of pears. Of family bread there was a 

 grand show, proving that the Connecticut Valley is not deficient 

 in good housewives, or of good husbands to supply them with 

 ovenwood. In connection with bread we noticed a beautiful 

 display of butter and cheese. In the vegetable department was 

 exhibited the usual variety of potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, 

 cabbages, beets, carrots, parsnips and beans, — doing credit both 

 to the cultivator and to the soil in whicTi they were grown. 

 Among the domestic manufactures was a great variety of car- 

 pets, bed spreads, overlaid with fancy figures, in bright colors, 

 evincing the industry of the ladies. Of fancy articles there were 

 many, and among them a case of wax work, by Mrs. Lavake. 

 The church exercises were opened with an overture upon the 



