1855. 



NEW ENGL.\XD FARMER. 



499 



up the wliite spires of the Aillage chm-ches, while 

 the rieli tones of a bell, or the ])usy hum of indus- 

 try, occasionally meets the ear. Such is but a feeble 

 portraiture of the spot selected by our Berkshire 

 friends, upon wliich annuallj- to gather ^\ith their 

 wives and cliildren and keep The Fai'itws' Festi- 

 val. A better selection we have never seen, nor a 

 wiser disposition of all the adjuncts which must sur- 

 round it. 



As will be seen above, this exhibition made the 

 forty-fflh of this time-honored and flourishing So- 

 ciety — a Society which has been instrumental in 

 continuing and greatly increasing the fertility of the 

 lovely valleys and the noble hills wliich are so beau- 

 tifully planted throughout the county. An intelli- 

 gent and jn'osjierous farmer remarked, that he had 

 taken the first premiums in nearly every class of 

 the exhibitions, and was ha])py to say that he owed 

 Avhatever of success and sldll he had acquired to 

 the encouragements and influences of this Society 

 The condition of the farms, and the liomes of the 

 farmers, bear evidence of the trutlifulness of the 

 remark. But in point of seniority, the " Old Berk 

 shire" must yield the palm to Middlesex. The 

 " Middlesex Society " was incorporated on the 

 twenty-eighth of February, 1803, by the name of 

 the " IVesiern Society of Middlesex Husbandmen." 

 It had existed as an unincorporated association, 

 imder the same name, from the year 1794 ; on the 

 24th of January, 1820, it was changed by an Act 

 of the Legislature, to that of the " Society of Mid- 

 dlesex Husbandmen and Manufactm-ers," and sub- 

 sequent to that time — as the manufacturers had little 

 to do with it — to "The Middlesex Agricultural 

 Society," which is its present title. It has now two 

 lusty daughters, one on each side of her, which bid 

 fiir soon to come up to the full proportions of the 

 mother, and perhaps, look a little more dressy and 

 important than the good old dame herself. But 

 one Agricultural Society now existing wiihin the 

 commonwealth takes precedence of the Middlesex 

 by virtue of seniority, — " The Massachusetts Society 

 for Promoting Agriculture," which was incorporated 

 in 1792, and whose members were made by the 

 Act incorporating the Western Society of Middle- 

 sex Husbandmen, honorary members of that cor- 

 poration, and entitled to be present and vote at its 

 meetings. 



And now, ^listress Berkshire, haiing set the his- 

 torical matters right, we propose to go on with 

 some account of your doings. 



Wednesday, the first day of the show, was pleas- 

 ant ; the elements were propitious, the roads were 

 good, and the temperature so genial as to invite even 

 invalids al)road, — and the Fair opened with the most 

 flattering prospects. The object of this day was to 

 show all kinds of animals, except horses, that were 

 to be exhibited for premiums, and all manufoctured 

 articles, implements and machinery. 



The number of neat cattle was not large, or in 

 any way remarkable in appearance, and were all of 

 the common breeds, or with only a slight admixture 

 of foreign blood. Swine were also quite limited 

 in number, and the show of poultry was not large. 

 The horses tried the track, as also did ladies and 

 gentlemen in easy carriages. The arrangement of 

 friuts, vegetables, harnesses, counterpanes, quilts, 

 embroidery, capes, collars and sliirts, went on in 

 the great hall ; pedlers made good speeches, selling 

 their whips and words at poverty prices, showmen 

 banged the banjo and stirred up their poor animals 

 with sharp sticks ; while the restless cattle lowed for 

 their stancheons and their evening feed at home ! 

 So the day waned away. The departing rays fell 

 with their soft beams upon the varied foliage on the 

 hills, lighting for a fe,w lingering moments, nature's 

 great cathedral, the woods, into a gorgeousness of 

 beauty, far more splendid than the genius of man 

 has, or ever can de\dse. Light faded, men, women 

 and children departed; the fandango ceased to 

 move, gloom rested on the hills, few soimds were 

 heard, but the measured tread of the tired police- 

 man as he went his weary rounds, and night was 

 sujjreme over the late animated scene. 



In the language of one of the "fast gentlemen 

 with fast nags," Thursday, the second day, was a 

 " stunner !" The \\-ind, surcharged Mith a cold, 

 sticky vapor, moved lazily along, clinging to man 

 and beast, lilce the shiit of Xessus ; but the pluck 

 of Old Berkshire was up, and rain or sliine, they 

 were determined to have a good time. So the 

 horses were brought out, and encouraged into some 

 pretty lively paces, while the sjiecfcitors shivered 

 and took the dismal droppings of about a thousand 

 indigo colored cotton umbrellas. The great halls 

 were crowded with men, women and children, who 

 examined and commented upon each article about six 

 times over, and then comited the number of boards 

 in the roof and braces in the frame-work of the 

 building, and wondered if it never would be done 

 raining. But before noon it became evident that 

 rain and cold and mud would get the mastery, and 

 drive them home. The horses dro]jt their ears and 

 hung their heads in sleepy listlcssness, and indicated 

 the strongest disposition to " turn tiiil to the wind." 

 ]\Ien's hats and coats looked seedy and old ; the 

 borrowed feathers in bonnets hung heavy and mea- 

 gre, while skii'ts were wofully bedrabbled, and clung 

 too close to ankles unused to touch tlie soil. It was 

 a failure. The elements won the race and triumph- 

 ed in it, leaving every nag behind, drenched, dis- 

 mal, and discouraged. Then the hotels, bright par- 

 lors, and inviting sitting-rooms, ojjened their doors 

 and welcomed tired visitors to their warm and hos- 

 pitable precincts, while fitful gusts strewed the 

 ground ynih. leaves or drove the rain ag-ainst the 

 lass. A darker night than the first brooded over 

 the eai'th, and the hills and valleys were alike lost 



