APPENDIX. V 



Your delegate expressed the great satisfaction he had expe- 

 rienced, after an absence of twenty years, in being present on this 

 occasion ; also in the jDrosperity and usefulness of the Essex society, 

 in the courtesies extended by the president and secretary, and 

 especially the attentions of the noble band of young men who 

 acted as marshals on the occasion, the young men who in former 

 days were denominated by Mr. Everett as the " Flower of Essex," 

 the young men who in all coming years were to be the bone and 

 sinew of society, and exhorted them to let their light so shine that 

 others, seeing their noble example, might follow it. 



In conclusion, your delegate would state that the Essex Society 

 still preserves its lead as one of the best-managed and influential 

 societies in the State. The exam^ile of its first jaresident (who was 

 also the first secretary of the first agricultural society established in 

 our country) is still felt, and has been handed down through long 

 terms of ofiicial service to the present day. Colonel Pickering was 

 president ten years, John W. Proctor secretary twenty years, and 

 president five years, Allen W. Dodge secretary seventeen years and 

 president three years, William Sutton, treasurer twenty-five years 

 and president three years, C. P. Preston secretary ten years, and 

 now holds the ofiice. Others have held ofiice for shorter terms, but 

 the policy of the Society seems to have been, not to make frequent 

 changes, but to preserve as long as possible the services of her 

 faithful incumbents ; and it may be stated also that its orator has 

 always been selected from within the limits of the county, and this 

 has been considered as one of the greatest honors that the Society 

 can bestow on its members. In confirmation of the practice of 

 retaining long in office her best working men, we have an illustra- 

 tion in the fact that the Society has sent to this Board as her i-ep- 

 resentative for the last ten years our able and popular associate, Dr. 



George B. Loring. 



Marshall P. Wildek. 



MIDDLESEX. 



The exhibition of the Middlesex Agricultural Society was held at 

 Concord, on the grounds of the Society, October 7th and 8th. The 

 occasion was one of peculiar interest, being the seventy-fifth anni- 

 versary of the establishment of the society, and being the first 

 occupation of the ample hall and improvements, which have been 

 erected within the last year. 



