REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 297 



REPORTS OP DELEGATES 



APPOINTED TO VISIT THE 



AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS 



ESSEX. 



I had the pleasure of attendhig the forty-sixth annual exhi- 

 bition of the Essex County Agricultural Society, held at 

 Andover the 29th- and 30th of September, as delegate from this 

 Board, — one of the oldest and wealthiest societies in the State, 

 — and, the weather being favorable, there was an immense con- 

 course of people on hand. It was gratifying to know that the 

 farmers' festival should create so much interest ; indeed, few 

 occasions, I think, could bring out in this quiet town a greater 

 number of people, and all seemed to enjoy it hugely. 



The annual meeting for the choice of officers and other im- 

 portant business usual on such occasions, was held on the first 

 day of the show, and it never was my good fortune to attend 

 an annual meeting of any society, where the attendance was so 

 large, and the interest manifested greater, and I may also add, 

 where general intelligence and argumentative abilities were 

 better displayed. It brought to my mind the remark in the 

 address to this society last year, that the society had never gone 

 out of its limits for a speaker, and, judging from the ability 

 there displayed, I think they may safely count on a home supply 

 for, at least, the present generation. 



The society has no grounds or permanent abiding-place, but 

 holds its shows in different towns, thus accommodating all 

 parts of the county. This has its advantages and also its disad- 

 vantages ; among the latter is the impossibility of having the 

 exhibition as uniformly interesting as they could, had they a 

 location with grounds, buildings, <fec., in other words, a home. 



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