iv APPENDIX. 



which might be supposed to indicate, if it did not proceed from, the 

 chill and decay of age. 



Of the officers of the society, we take pleasure in saying that nothing 

 appeared to be wanting on their part, to render the occasion alike pleas- 

 ant and instructive to all present. All preliminary arrangements had 

 been judiciously made, and every part of the day's programme was 

 punctually attended to at the appointed hour ; and perfect order and 

 decorum were preserved throughout. All the features of an agricultu- 

 ral exhibition, common at the present day, were seen in this' — excepting 

 a display of farming tools — which we consider an omission anywhere ; 

 and excepting, also, those inticements to gambling and intemperance, 

 and those displays of buffoonery, which, if any where allowed, are a 

 disgrace. 



The ploughing match was a fair exhibition of the farmer's skill and 

 judgment in handling both the implement and the team. The compe- 

 tition in the work was limited, we apprehend, to the neighborhood, — as 

 is too often the case elsewhere, — and to those farmers who usually 

 enter into it. In ploughing, which is one of the most important parts 

 of farm work, we think it judicious to enlist, in some way — by sufficient 

 premiums, or otherwise — a large number of competitors from various 

 parts of the society's limits, and with the use of ploughs of different 

 construction. The advantage of any particular implement, or of any 

 improved method of operation, might then be perceived and availed of 

 by the farmers present. Ploughing, once the most exciting and closely 

 observed part of an agricultural exhibition, seems to have become one 

 of minor consideration. This, if a fact, is to be regretted, for it is on 

 the plough — the form of the implement itself, and the ease and thorough- 

 ness of the operation of it — that much of the facility and success of 

 farm work depends. 



In the various departments of animals, the exhibition was not superior, 

 if equal, to many shows of former years. The cattle, however, 

 embraced not merely what are termed " fancy stock," but animals of 

 substantial value and use in the localities and for the purposes of their 

 individual owners. And we consider this a fact of importance to the 

 society, and of credit to the exhibitors of the stock. An imported bull 

 or cow, of pure blood, that has always been fed and handled in accord- 

 ance with its estimated cost and value, may attract and deserve attention 

 for its singular beauty, or as a pi'omising foundation of an improved 

 race. But farmers who cannot ordinarily incur the expense attending 

 the purchase and keeping of such animals, take pride in exhibiting good 

 stock raised upon their own farms, or otherwise obtained in the exercise 

 of their own judgment, and kept for uses which prove it to be a source 

 of profit. It may be that such animals have no famous pedigree, or 



