674 MASS. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



DR. HITCHCOCK'S REPORT. 



EXHIBITION OF THE ESSEX SOCIETY. 



Agreeably to the request of the Board of Agriculture, I 

 attended the Annual Exhibition, or Fair, of the Essex Agri- 

 cultural Society, in Lawrence, on the 29th and 30th of Sep- 

 tember last. 



From the opportunities which I have had of passing several 

 times through this county, within the last twenty years, from 

 the unusual intelligence and public spirit which I have ever 

 found characteristic of its inhabitants, and from my personal 

 acquaintance with the present officers of the society, I confess 

 that I anticipated that this annual festival would be of a high 

 grade, and I was not disappointed. 



There was, however, little in the exhibition that was pecu- 

 liar, and therefore I can hardly be expected to go into much 

 detail, especially as the Secretary has given a judicious and 

 lucid report of the proceedings. 



It is certainly an interesting fact, as stated in this Report, 

 that not less than seven thousand visited the spacious hall in 

 Lawrence, devoted to the exhibition, although a fee was de- 

 manded, which realized to the Society the sum of ^700. And 

 such a gathering was the more impressive to me, when I recol- 

 lected that where that hall stood, and the city that surrounded 

 it, was only a few years since a dreary plain. I could not but 

 exclaim, " Essex County knows how to grow cities as well as 

 fruits and grasses." 



The brilliant Address of General Oliver, on this occasion, 

 dwelt on the subject of agricultural education : which I am 

 glad to say has been the theme of two-thirds of the studied 

 and extemporaneous addresses which I have heard at agricul- 

 tural fairs for the last four or five years. Such facts show the 

 state of public sentiment in the State on this subject, and my 

 conviction is, that did the government of this State know how 

 general, I might say, almost universal, is this sentiment, they 

 would at once yield to the public will and establish an agricul- 

 tural school or schools, such as would satisfy the demand of 



