132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The financial affairs of this society appear to have been man- 

 aged with great prudence and skill. Its fund, created by 

 admission fees and accumulation of interest, amounted, in 1821, 

 to about 81,000 ; in 1831, to $3,000 ; in 1840, to $5,500 ; in 1851, 

 to $8,606 ; and in 1854, to $9,550. Previous to the present 

 year, the annual exhibitions of fruit, vegetables, products of the 

 dairy, manufactured articles, &c., were held in the Town Hall 

 at Bridgewater, to which, for the last three years, an admission 

 fee of ten cents has been charged, which afforded an income, in 

 1852, of $248 ; in 1853, $288 ; in 1854, $300. For the last 

 ten years the society has paid out in premiums from $400 to 

 $1,000 annually, and its yearly expenses have been from $350 

 to $450. 



For several years past this society has experienced great 

 inconvenience from want of in and out-door space for their ex- 

 hibitions. The Town Hall was not large enough, and sometimes 

 it was difficult to obtain suitable ground, within convenient dis- 

 tance, for their ploughing match. These considerations, with 

 others, induced the society, in December, 1854, to take meas- 

 ures to procure accommodations of their own on a more extensive 

 scale. They have since purchased, at an expense of little more 

 than $2,600, a tract of land containing about thirty-one acres, 

 admirably adapted to the purpose, upon which to hold their 

 annual exhibitions, ploughijig match, &c. The land is about 

 half a mile from the principal village in BridgcAvater, one-fourth 

 of a mile from a railroad station, and about four-fifths of its 

 circumference is bounded by Taunton River, which affords suf- 

 ficient protection without a fence. The remaining part has 

 been enclosed by a close board fence, six and a half feet high, 

 with stone posts. The grounds have been graded, trees set out, 

 wells dug that supply pure water, and a track formed half a 

 mile in length, for the trial of horses ; all of which has cost the 

 society about $2,300, exclusive of the cost of the land. The 

 society now contemplates the erection of a large building upon 

 the grounds. When this is done the arrangement will be com- 

 plete ; the society will be possessed of every necessary accom- 

 modation for its annual exhibitions, including ploughing match 

 and experimental agriculture. This year the show was held 

 on the third and fourth of the present month, upon the society's 

 own land. Large tents were erected for the occasion. The 



