APPENDIX. xi 



ble to the presence of the Chief Executive of the State and other 

 public men. 



A person passing through this region and seeing the hillsides 

 dotted with farm buildings, stretching their rich pasture and meadow 

 lands out before him, and finding upon some of them such herds of 

 blooded stock as those of Miles and Whitman's, naturally expects 

 that an exhibition of stock here would be one of great merit, but on 

 this occasion he would have been disappointed. 



The show in the department of neat-stock was quite inferior to 

 what it should have been, even for a rainy day. 



I saw a few good cattle from the estate of E. T. Miles ; also two 

 or three herds of verj' good Jerseys, and a very good pair of cattle 

 from Daniel North of Leominster. The town of Leominster exhib- 

 ited the only town team, consisting of 19 yokes, which to us seemed 

 a rather slim affair. We saw no sheep. There were a few swine, 

 among which we noticed some very fine specimens of the Berkshire 

 breed, exhibited by Stephen Shepley of Fitchburg. 



The poultry department w r as well filled, and, all things considered, 

 equalled our expectation. At the " ploughing-match," we saw no 

 ploughing, and afterwards heard it announced as a failure. We 

 saw some very good horses ; but .this department, like that of neat- 

 cattle, was not what one would expect from Fitchburg and its sur- 

 roundings. 



The agricultural department of the hall likewise showed the 

 damaging effect of drought, lowery weather, or, possibly, what is 

 worse, a lack of interest. 



The officers showed commendable zeal, and nothing seemed to be 

 left undone by them. The trouble, evidently, was a lack of cooper- 

 ation on the part of the members of the Soeiet}\ We learned that 

 some of the towns within the bounds of the Society held exhibi- 

 tions of their own, which might have lessened their interest in the 

 parent society. My impression, however, is, that such shows should 

 produce an opposite result. 



We thought we discovered a desire on the part of some to make 

 the occasion one for political demonstration, and, viewed from that 

 stand-point, it was, perhaps, quite as successful as an agricultural 

 show. 



The encouragement given by the presence of Governor Rice, his 

 manifest interest in agriculture, and words of cheer for farmers, 

 was worthy of commendation, and gave an impulse in the right 

 direction. 



Perhaps the almost unparalleled drought of the past season, and 

 the all-absorbing political excitement of this centennial year, in 

 addition to the unfavorable state of the weather, might furnish a 



