16 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH OF 

 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



From an Address before the Housatonic Agricultural Society. 



BY HORACE J. CANFIELD. 



Agricultural societies have iucrecased with the general 

 increase of the nation. They are now counted by hundreds. 

 Every year they gather millions of property and hundreds of 

 thousands of members and spectators within their hospitable 

 gates. But the parent of this numerous progeny first saw 

 the light in Pittsfield, and its first-born, springing to life 

 here in this town of Great Barrington, and named from the 

 "Housatonuuk River of our pride," has grown to a vigorous 

 maturity, and, in the great family of agricultural societies, 

 stands second to none in the elements of beauty, prosperity, 

 and beneficence. Pondering such facts as these, you may 

 suppose that I was not careless of the responsibilities devolved 

 upon me, and at once chose a subject, — The Law of Heredity, 

 — exactly suited to the time and place. But let me remind 

 you that just then the notes of preparation for our National 

 Centennial, which had been for so long a time sounding fitfully 

 and spasmodically in the ear of the world, became sharp, 

 distinct and clear. As the time approached, the omens all 

 assumed encouraging and cheerful aspects. The national 

 heart filled and overflowed with a pride and an enthusiasm 

 which were genuine and not unwarranted. The world, with 

 generous sympathy, approved the spectacle. The whole 

 atmosphere was charged with patriotism, and we all felt and 

 yielded to the influences of the time. Then came the "Fourth," 

 — the Centennial Fourth, — with its pomp and pageantry, in 

 many cases, brilliant, beautiful and inspiring with its blare of 



