REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 805 



BERKSHIRE. 



The cattle show and fair and celchratioii of the fiftieth anni- 

 versary of the Berkshire Agricnltural Society were held on the 

 3d, 4th, and 5th days of October, in Pittsficld, on the grounds of 

 the society, and were attended by your delegate the first two 

 days, agreeably to appointment by the Board. 



The sliow grounds and buildings of the society seem so well 

 adapted to the purposes for wiiich they are designed, as hardly 

 to admit of improvement. The grounds are quite extensive 

 and nearly level, except a moderate elevation, on one side, 

 whicli affords a distinct view of the whole, and on which stand 

 the buildings, consisting of an exhibition hall, a dining hall, 

 treasurer's office, <fec., all under the same roof, and a one-story 

 block, comprising several apartments, which are rented to 

 victuallers, as a source of revenue to the society. The plain 

 below affords ample space for the exhibition of stock, stables for 

 horses, a half-mile course for tiie exhibition of horses, plough- 

 ing match, and pasturage for stock that may arrive from a dis- 

 tance before the day of the fair. 



On the first day were exhibited the cattle, sheep, swine, and 

 poultry, the products of the dairy, the fruits and vegetables, 

 the implements of husbandry, the products of mechanical skill 

 and industry, and the handiwork of the ladies. 



The cattle, three hundred and forty-four in number, bore 

 favorable testimony to tiie fertility of the soil upon which they 

 were bred, as well as to the sound judgment and correct taste 

 of their owners, in breeding, matching and training. Of some 

 fifty pairs of working oxen on tiie ground, all in fine condition 

 and well matched, there were twenty pairs at least whose aver- 

 age weight would not fall short of thirty-six hundred pounds. 



The cows and heifers numbered one hundred and one. 

 Fourteen milch cows and fifteen breeding cows were entered 

 for premiums, which would form a herd not easy to be sur- 

 passed. Probably no other society, in the State, has ever ex- 

 hibited as large a number of cows of equal excellence. These 

 cows were large and handsome, mostly grade Durham, Devon, 

 and Ayrshire. 



The fat cattle were good, but not numerous. 



