xxiv REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



To withoUl the bounty would be injurious to the society, and to 

 the Conimouwealth. 



Respectfully submitted. 



JoHX JonxsoN. 



HIGHLAND. 



In compliance with your appointment, the undersigned attended 

 the annual fair of the Highland Society at Middlefield, September 

 15tli and 16th, 1870. 



Starting from Chester Station on the morning of the 15th, we 

 wended our way upward for several miles, over a country anything 

 but inviting to the agriculturist, until, emerging into a higher and 

 more open country, neat cottages and costly edifices, with well tilled 

 fields, were passed, showing what industry and thrift can accom- 

 plish. 



Arriving at the fair grounds, an area of some eight acres, on the 

 top of the Berkshire hills, we were forcibly reminded of the signifi- 

 cance of the name of the society, and impressed with the remarkable 

 landscape spread out before us. 



From the roof of the hall, a two-story building, ample for the ac- 

 commodation of the society, the eye grasps a circuit of country of 

 some twenty miles in extent, ])artially overlooking fourteen towns 

 in the Commonwealth, and a scene of varied beauty, such as had 

 never been our good fortune before to witness. 



It was soon evident that this was to be a gala day to the com- 

 munity, for on the A'arious roads were to be seen herds, flocks and 

 vehicles, en route for the fair. 



The forenoon of the day was occupied by the usual routine of 

 prei)aration and arrangement. 



At 12 M. dinner was served in an Lto the hall, specially set ajiart 

 for the purpose. 



All the j)arts of the fair were now in working order, not except- 

 ing the inseparable accompaniments of the whip merchant, the 

 candy stand and the fimdango. 



The grounds are not so well adapted to an exhibition as in some 

 more favored portions of the State, for the irrepressible rock pro- 

 trudes itself in many places, and interferes with the fullest success. 

 The marked feature of the occasion, as one would infer from the 

 appearance of the countiy, was the stock, and the exhibition in this 

 department was truly gratifying. 



