66 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



the formalist or ascetic charges upon the people of New Eng- 

 land a growing mania for the track and trotter, let us point to 

 our hilly pastures, which produce the hardiest horses in the 

 "world, and then ask him whether, amidst the cares and toils of 

 farming life, after diligent study of the more sober products of 

 our fields and stalls, we may not take this other gift aright, and 

 learn to develop, and cherish, and enjoy, and protect that 

 favorite animal, which is intimately associated with all our 

 enjoyments and sorrows, and whose comfort in this world 

 depends on the respect which a kind-hearted master knows how 

 to entertain for him. Let this then be our New England rural 

 sport, if need be, properly conducted as a feature of our exhibi- 

 tions, and controlled by propriety, honesty and good judgment. 

 But let us have our pleasure Mill, and not hope to rise to supe- 

 rior moral excellence by chilling the blood in our veins, and 

 regarding the sunny side of life as overgrown with frivolities, 

 beset with temptation and blackened by crime. In this way 

 shall we love our calling the more. In this way shall we 

 educate ourselves into the bright and cheerful regions which 

 belong to a free rural population, and in this way shall we learn 

 how to make such anniversaries as this, more useful, more 

 influential, more instructive, more agreeable and attractive. 

 If we would know each other better, let us unite in giving new 

 vigor to these associations ; if we would know our occupation 

 better, let us rouse all our faculties by joyous intercourse here, 

 and thus become enthusiastic recipients of the knowledge which 

 belongs to our occupation. For this association may be a 

 source of much advantage to you as a fraternal assembly, all 

 loving the land, all devoted to the honor of our State, all 

 understanding the capacity of our people for advancement and 

 for kindly social regard. Said Governor Holbrook, of Vermont, 

 in an address delivered at the opening of the State Fair, in 

 1851 : 



"And now, farmers of Vermont, what is our object in coming 

 together on this occasion ? Is it not to become better acquainted 

 with each other, and to form ourselves into a permanent organ- 

 ization for our own mutual benefit and improvement, and for 

 the advancement of the agriculture of the State ? Dr. Brewster, 

 in enumerating the advantages which had resulted from the 

 establishment of the British Board of Agriculture, remarks, 



