124 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



nature wliicli will highly honor 1853, and give it more than 

 equal footing in the scroll of the past. As old father time 

 shall plough each successive year into the furrows of the past, 

 may the interest of our exhibition gain increase until we shall 

 have attained the goal of perfection. 



Otis Adams, Chairman. 



WOBCESTEFv NORTH. 



Fro7n the Report of the Committee. 



The best piece of ground that could be obtained for the pur- 

 pose, was on the Fitchburg Poor Farm, in a field of some four 

 acres, so uneven and stony as to prevent the land being laid 

 out for the workmen in parallel lines. The soil was a deep 

 solid loam, and somewhat stony, with a tough sward ; making 

 it a very undesirable task for the competitors, though quite as 

 easy for the committee to determine the comparative skill of 

 the ploughmen and the strength and training of their teams, as 

 in a more easy and friable soil. No time was specified in 

 which the work was to be performed, your committee believ. 

 ing it much more important that the ground should be well 

 ploughed than rapidly ploughed, — though, every thing else be- 

 ing equal, dispatch should be considered worthy of merit. 



There were eleven teams that performed their task, and 

 taking into consideration the hardness of the soil, the task was 

 well performed. 



Tliere were many things to be considered by the committee 

 in judging of the merit and demerit of the various competitors. 

 They hesitated, examined, and reexamined the work per- 

 formed, before they could satisfy their own judgments in 

 making the awards. 



A number of teams were unable to plough the required 

 depth, (seven inches.) Some of the competitors did not turn 

 the furrow quite flat and smooth enough to be considered per- 

 fect workmen- One or two others performed with their hands 

 and iheir feet what should have been performed with the 



