APPENDIX. xxxiii 



HINGHAM. 



As delegate from the State Board of Agriculture, I attended the 

 annual exhibition of the Hinghani Ai^ricultural and Horticultural 

 Society, on the 29th and 30th of September, 1868. 



With his usual urbanity, the president of the society met me 

 on my arrival at the grounds of the society, and his kindness was 

 unabated till the last glimmer of the fading light of the last day of 

 the tenth exhibition of the society over which he so acceptably 

 presides. 



Mv. French, the treasurer of the society, also gave me the right 

 hand, fellowshipping me as a brother farmer. He was unwearied 

 in his efforts to make my time pass pleasantly, and he succeeded to 



charm. 



The God of love smiled on the labors of the community encircling 

 the membership of this society. In their former exhibitions they 

 have been in a high degree successful, but in this last they may 

 glory. 



Though they reckon ten years of existence, they count but two 

 years since their adoption into the family of societies. Yet, with 

 its youthful vigor, it has been able to present to the State a growth 

 which many societies venerable in years must acknowledge as theii' 

 superior — a growth of zeal, of power, and of worth to the world. 



The society's building stands upon their own ground, well lo- 

 cated and capacious. The lower story is used for the horticultural 

 exhibitions, in which was a splendid display of vegetables, flowers 

 and fruits. 



On exhibition were five hundred plates of apples of almost every 

 variety and of superb beauty ; three hundred and fifteen plates of 

 pears, excelling in variety and general appearance similar exhibi- 

 tions from a much larger extent of territory. 



There were one hundred and thirty-four plates of grapes, repre- 

 senting every variety usually cultivated, and in clusters of surpass- 

 ing magnitude. In this department the connoisseur would feast on 

 nectar fruit and wisely judge, while the unskilled might eat to 

 satiety and foil to make the proper distinction. 



The roots spoke well for the soil of Hingham and its vicinity, as 

 well as for its cultivation. 



On exhibition Avas a specimen of every variety of grain grown in 

 that section, showing that the husbandmen of that society do not 

 mean to be outdone in vaiiety, more than in quality. 



These specimens gave evidence of a fruitful season, and the 

 pumpkins and squashes predicted the feeling of the heart, which 



