264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



maintained — more thrift and profit. Buildings and fences are 

 repaired, or new ones, built on improved plans, are put in their 

 places ; hedges and fence corners are cleared up, and crops yield 

 more per acre. Stock of all kinds is improved ; new and pure 

 bloods are introduced ; emulation and enterprise are excited, 

 and improvement takes place. 



A great change has been made in agricultural implements 

 within a few years. Manufacturers have made use of fairs to 

 advertise their wares, by which means they have been brought 

 under the immediate notice of the farmer, who has commented 

 upon their excellences and imperfections, and improvements 

 suggested, of which the maker has taken advantage. These are 

 some of the benefits which have followed, as the result, either 

 directly or indirectly, of agricultural fairs. 



But a great burden of responsibility rests upon the officers 

 and managers of these societies to make these fairs what they 

 ought to be. The right men should be selected for office — men 

 who have strong sympathy with the farming interests, and men 

 who are willing to promote them by attention to the duties of 

 their office. 



It is no sinecure to manage the details of a fair ; and a man 

 who loves honor, and does not love work, should never accept 

 office in an agricultural society. The committees, especially, 

 should be men acquainted with their respective duties. But a 

 successful fair demands something more than a judicious selec- 

 tion of committees. They must attend to their duties. 



But it is out of the power of any board of managers, to make 

 a fair a success, without the co-operation of the people. There 

 should be a hearty, healthy interest in the mind of every farmer 

 in the county, for the successful carrying out of everything 

 which is for the interest of his county society. 



Every farmer should take pride in it, and use it as an instru- 

 mentality made by him for his own benefit, and should go to its 

 business meeting, with the full resolve to do all that in him lies 

 for its prosperity ; that it may be made a power to be felt 

 throughout the county, in the improvement of husbandry, and 

 a direct instrumentality to benefit each, by the influence which 

 it exerts on all. J. M. Smith. 



Thomas Billings. 

 N. S. Hubbard. 



