XX APPENDIX. 



business of this Board to attend at once to these two things, and 

 so present them to the present Legislature, that their action maj^ 

 relieve the thousands of famiUes who hve in constant dread of the 

 one, and prevent the fear and great destruction arising from a 

 toleration of the other? If it be true that worthless dogs are in 

 excess of sheep (the most profitable stock for a large portion of 

 the Old Bay State) in the ratio of two to one, is it not high time 

 some stringent measures were used to reverse the ratio ? The show 

 of poultry was very good. 



The exhibition at the haU did great credit to the society, and 

 deserves a more extended notice than in this brief report I am 

 able to give. 



The untiring efforts of the ladies were everywhere manifest ; but 

 the great interest of the first day centred in a fireman's muster. 

 Twenty-one companies contended for the prizes, aggregating six 

 hundred dollars, with the greatest enthusiasm. The prizes, the 

 vociferous cheering of the four thousand spectators, the doughnuts 

 and hot coffee distributed by the lady-members of the Reform Club 

 and the Woman's Temperance Union, were stimulants sufScient for 

 the 1,244 men who participated in the trial. 



I was informed by the president that nothing intoxicating was 

 allowed upon the ground. I certainly saw no indication of any, — 

 a good e\ddence, that, in this respect, the officers of one societ}', 

 at least, are the right men in the right place. 



At eight o'clock on the morning of the second day a procession, 

 formed in the village, — consisting of teams for the ploughing- 

 match, draught, matched, and fat cattle, trained oxen and steers, 

 and a crowd of spectators, — was escorted by the Milford Band to 

 the field selected for the ploughing-match, near the grounds of the 

 society. 



Pen cannot describe the scene presented that beautiful Septem- 

 ber morning as the long train of cattle, from unweaned calves to 

 large oxen, guided with tenderest care by men whose whitened 

 locks were a "crown of glory," with their sons and grandsons, 

 down to the boy below his teens, with vehicles of almost every 

 description, filled with implements for the day's trial, passed out 

 of the ^^llage. Yankee Doodle from twenty pieces, accompanied 

 b}' the lowing of oxen, the shouting of their drivers, their pleasant 

 greetings, and merry laughter, were amply sufficient to stir even 

 the dull soul of your delegate to a pitch of enthusiasm seldom 

 reached. 



There were thirty-one entries for the ploughing-match, which was 

 concluded about ten o'clock, a.m., in a most satisfactory manner. 

 As I examined the well-turned furrows, I did not envy the com- 



