REPORTS OP DELEGATES. 257 



PLYMOUTH. 



As a delegate from this Board, I attended the annual exhibi- 

 tion of the Plymouth Agricultural Society on Thursday and 

 Friday, October 3d and 4th. Tliis society, upwards of forty 

 years old, has reached an elevated position among the societies 

 of the Commonwealth. The last exhibition, in its results and 

 details, goes to prove that there has been no degeneration, but 

 that the whole matter of agricultural festivals has been reduced 

 to a perfect system. The weather during both days was the 

 very perfection of our " Indian summer," and the large number 

 of visitors throughout seemed to enjoy the occasion as if wars 

 and rumors of wars had become obsolete. 



The eligible and extensive grounds upon which the whole of 

 the exhibition is spread out contribute very much to its success. 

 The ploughing during the morning of the first day was a fine 

 exhibition of skill in that regard, the various entries being ten 

 in number. The quality and texture of the soil, however, was 

 such as would hardly bring out all the skill of a master plough- 

 man. The exhibition of stock gave abundant evidence that a 

 leaven had been for a considerable season in operation. The 

 four more prominent breeds of neat stock were represented by 

 pure bred animals, most of them of superior merit. The entries 

 of neat stock numbered 579 ; of swine, 60 ; sheep, 75, and 

 horses, 60, making up, as I was assured, the best show of 

 stock that had ever come together under the auspices of the 

 society. 



Within the exhibition hall there was a very fine display of 

 specimens of all the varied products of the field, the garden, the 

 orchard and workshop. The dairy and the studio were also 

 well represented, and the fancy department had hy no means 

 been neglected. The show of fruits, as elsewhere throughout 

 New England, was necessarily very limited in amount, but was 

 the finest I had seen. Grapes, which are occupying so much 

 attention at the present time, were displayed upon the tables in 

 abundance, some of them being very fine and others entirely 

 unworthy of cultivation. Vegetables, as everywhere else this 

 year, were unusually good and abundant. Li the mechanical 

 department, the claims of different straw and stalk-cutters, 



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