MILCH COWS. 299 



directed their examinations and exercised their judgment in 

 deciding upon the claims of the only competitors for the pre- 

 miums. It was equally matter of regret as of surprise to the 

 committee that but two persons had made their entries within 

 the time prescribed by the trustees, and but one other person, 

 although not conforming to the required time of notice, had 

 sought to be admitted to the competition. The sums offered 

 as inducements to the trial seemed to be most liberal, and, re- 

 garded merely in the light of promised rewards for attention 

 and labor, were certainly sufficiently remunerative. It was 

 hoped, too, that the known good management and high charac- 

 ter of the dairies of the county of Worcester would have ren- 

 dered the required account of their treatment and product both 

 easy and pleasant to their owners, and the honest and laudable 

 pride of the farmer be gratified in his opportunity of compar- 

 ison with like interests in other sections of the Commonwealth. 

 The competitor was constrained by no precise exaction of ser- 

 vice, nor trammelled by conformity to prescribed rules of con- 

 duct, but the whole business of the dairy was submitted to his 

 own judgment; and all that was asked was a statement of what 

 he had done, and with what success it had been attended. The 

 occasion may never again be so favorably presented of justify- 

 ing the reputation of our dairy farmers, and advancing that 

 interest in rural economy which unites with the improvement 

 of the farm the surest and richest compensation for agricultural 

 labor. 



The two entries to be considered by the committee, in refer- 

 ence to the premiums, were made by William Robinson, Jr., of 

 Barre, and William S. Lincoln, of Worcester. Each of these 

 entries was in season, and accompanied by minute statements, 

 in substantial conformity to the requirement of the trustees. 

 Each dairy consisted " of not less than six cows in number, and 

 had been owned by the exhibiters respectively, and been kept 

 within the county, not less than five months previous to the 

 cattle show," in accordance with the proposals of the pre- 

 miums. 



Mr. Robinson's whole dairy consists of sixteen cows, from 

 which, at the commencement of the season, he selected six for 

 the trial. His farm contains about two hundred acres, and is 



