MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 9 



enjoy that desirable freedom of mind and circumstances, which 

 naturally attends a position above the fear of Avant, and at an 

 equal distance from that superfluous wealth that brings care 

 and anxiety to its possessor. Their dwellings are the abodes 

 of innocence, peace, and plenty. The committee have great 

 pleasure in acknowledging, in this public manner, the generous 

 hospitality with which they were entertained, whenever their 

 convenience permitted them to partake of a meal or a lodging 

 at the house of a farmer. 



The pleasure which our predecessors have expressed on for- 

 mer occasions, under the conviction that the practice of agri- 

 culture was gradually, if not rapidly, improving in this coun- 

 try, has been realized by the committee, in the examinations of 

 the present year. The movement of enlightened and scientific 

 husbandry is onward. Yet there is room left for improvement ; 

 and, should the spirit of emulation, that now exists, continue to 

 prevail, we trust that our successors will be enabled to make 

 reports still more satisfactory to themselves and honorable to 

 the yeomanry of the county. 



Applications for the society's premiums were made by twenty- 

 eight individuals, namely, five in Concord, four in Lincoln, 

 two in West Cambridge, two in Billerica, one in Dracut, one in 

 Chelmsford, one in Pepperell, one in Groton, one in Sudbury, 

 three in Framingham, one in Ashland, one in Hopkinton, three 

 in Marlborough, and one in Brighton. The premises of two of 

 the applicants were not visited by the committee; one, because 

 he had violated a well-known rule of the society, regulating 

 the distribution of premiums, and thereby forfeited his claim 

 to a premium ; the other had misapprehended the object for 

 which a premium was proposed. 



Farms. — In awarding the premiums on farms, the committee 

 have endeavored most scrupulously to regard their instructions, 

 by taking into consideration the general appearance of the 

 premises, the nature of the soil, and the amount of labor neces- 

 sary to bring it into a state susceptible of tillage ; the mode and 

 expense of cultivation, and the quantity and value of the pro- 

 duce. Our examination has resulted in the assurance, that the 

 progress of enlightened skill has not been slackened, that emu- 

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