402 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Ill fruits and flowers southern Berkshire appears to have 

 shared most bountifully, in common with other parts of the 

 Commonwealth ; and the exhibition was graced with magnifi- 

 cent fruits and beautiful flowers, of various sorts and in great 

 profusion. Bread and honey, butter and maple sugar, all 

 tempting the taste and puzzling the good sense of the exam- 

 iners, had each their deserved commendation and their appro- 

 priate premiums. 



Of household manufactures and the useful and ornamental 

 arts there were specimens worthy of the reputation of their 

 fair contributors, and deserving' the premiums they received, — 

 conclusively proving, in very nearly the language of the com- 

 mittee, " that, while war, with all its bloody horrors, is upon 

 us, and abundant cause might be found for neglecting or for- 

 getting those elegant arts and accomplishments which contribute 

 so much to the higher and purer pleasures of life, there have 

 been some who have not forgotten them ; that while busy 

 fingers have not lost their skill in the performance of household 

 duties, or in providing nameless articles of necessity or of 

 comfort for the soldier in the tented field or in the hospital, 

 some have found time also to cultivate their own taste and skill, 

 and to convey pure gratification to others, by the creations of 

 the pencil and the needle," 



The last, and perhaps most attractive part of this exhibition, 

 was the display and trial of horses upon " the turf." This was 

 attended by a large concourse of spectators, and afforded 

 general satisfaction. Several of the premiums appear to have 

 been open to competitors from any quarter, and were awarded 

 to competitors from New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

 Some of these premiums far exceeded in value even the highest 

 oflered in any other department of the exhibition. And we are 

 led to believe that here, as elsewhere, the attractions of a 

 display of horses, and the trial of their speed and quality on 

 the turf, are overriding Jhe more strictly legitimate objects of a 

 cattle show. We shall not attempt to argue the utility and 

 propriety of devoting so much time and money to the exhil)i- 

 tion and trial, in this way, of that noble animal — the horse. 

 Nor do we intend to intimate a belief that such a course is 

 inconsistent with generally received notions of propriety, and 

 of the real j)urposc of an agricultural cxbibition. We allude 



