iate, occupies the attention of most cultivators residing near 

 our large cities. And as the wealth of our county increases, 

 the number of elegant residences ornamented by landscape 

 gardening, and surrounded by fields subjected to expensive 

 culture increases also. Meanwhile the farms which were once 

 managed by husbandmen, who took pride in their working ox- 

 en, and dairy herd — in their ample fields of corn and grass 

 and potatoes — in their orchards bending beneath the weight of 

 fruit — and who sent beef, and hay, and pork, and butter and 

 cheese, and apples and cider to the market, are fewer than they 

 once were, and are not, in many instances, conducted with the 

 industry and skill of former times. While this change in the 

 condition of agriculture has been going on, agricultural emula- 

 tion and rivalry have declined, and the business of horticulture 

 has become more prominent. 



The importance of encouraging this modern system of farm- 

 ing should not be lost sight of. The devotion of lands, in 

 small parcels, to special crops, is especially necessary, where a 

 large portion of the population is occupied in mechanical and 

 manufacturing operations — and own no land, raise no vegeta- 

 bles and fruit for their own consumption, and should find a 

 well-supplied market. Vegetables and small fruits are pro- 

 duced in such limited quantities that they are a luxury, beyond 

 the reach of many of the laboring classes. This state of things 

 should no longer exist. And we urge upon all owners of land 

 special attention to those crops which are required in the mar- 

 kets of our manufacturing and commercial towns. We trust, 

 moreover, that the competition among small farms devoted to 

 this object, will increase, and that committees will, hereafter, 

 be called upon to examine and report upon numerous entries 

 of this description. 



The only farm entered for premium this year is the estate of 

 Dr. E. G. Kelley, of Newburyport. The careful management 

 and cultivation of this tract of land, (about sixteen acres,) 

 were a source of great gratification to the committee, as an il- 

 lustration of the ample reward which a skillful cultivator of 



