BERKSHIRE SOCIETY. 255 



plough, drawn by a team goaded to action, without sympathiz- 

 ing with the team, and experiencing returning symptoms of 

 those aches, consequent upon an encounter with it thirty years 

 ago ? Who to-day holds his boyish notions so sacred as to be- 

 lieve that the ox, in order to a successful performance of labor, 

 must show himself bony by the exhibition of a mere frame, 

 covered with a hide, manufactured from too scant a pattern ? 



Who, to-day, can reflect upon the improvements, not only in 

 the plough, but in the harrow and the cart, the method of cul- 

 tivation, the grains and grasses cultivated, and the successful 

 crossing in breeding, without being forced to the conclusion, 

 that flesh on working oxen is not all practical deception, but 

 the natural results of improved husbandry. The committee 

 would recommend to rival competitors, to cease their fault find- 

 ings, and go unitedly on in their laudable enterprise, receiving 

 stimulus from the consideration, that flesh gives weight and 

 power to the ox, — that flesh is valuable and always transferable. 



There were entered for premiums, 14 yokes of working 

 oxen, and 11 yokes of four year old oxen. The committee 

 were instructed to test the working qualities of the oxen by the 

 jUse of a stone boat, and it was evident from the crowd that 

 gathered around the teams, to the exclusion of the committee, 

 that it was an interesting exhibition. 



GEORGE O. PECK, Chairman. 



Cows AND Heifers. 



The number of entries in this division, was forty-four. The 

 milch cows surpassed any that the committee recollect ever 

 having seen on the ground. The breeding cows, with their 

 calves, gave great promise that we should not want for good 

 stock to grace our shows hereafter. The committee would in 

 a special manner notice a two year old heifer, belonging to 

 Thaddeus Clapp, of Pittsfield, having had a calf in July last. 

 For two months she gave thirty-eight pounds of milk per day, 

 and for the two weeks just past has made nine pounds of butter 

 per week, of the best quality. 



S. L. RUSSELL, Chairman. 



