49 



which was won by Wcymonth Boy. The third was a double- 

 team race for a purse of 175, between B. F. Brown's Shawmut 

 and mate, of Dorchester, and Richard Hohiies's Tom Bowlin 

 and mate, of Boston Highlands ; which was won ]jy Captain 

 Holmes's team in 3.081, 3.12. 



On Friday, the first exercise was the cavalcade upon the 

 track, which was led by the chief marshal, and preceded by 

 the Canton brass band, which played a beautiful quickstep, — 

 " The Norfolk March," composed for the occasion by the accom- 

 plished leader, E. A. Samuels, and dedicated to the Society. 



At 12 o'clock, a procession was formed under the direction of 

 Lieut. Thomas Decatur, of the Roxbury Horse Guards, chief 

 marshal of the day, which marched to the tent, where an ele- 

 gant collation had been prepared by Thomas D. Cook, of Boston 

 Highlands. After prayer had been offered by Rev. George M. 

 Folsom, of Dediiam, the company were invited by the President 

 to partake of the repast. At the conclusion of the dinner, the 

 President made the following brief and appropriate address of 

 welcome : — 



Gentle^^ien : — It is needless for me to assure you again that I 

 feel very sincerely the honor which you have so kindly bestowed 

 upon me by calling me to preside over this Society. 



I do so with great difiidence, for I know full well, and you Avill 

 not forget, the pecnUar fitness of my predecessor for the position 

 which lie so ably filled, and all its duties he so faithfully discharged 

 for so many years, and how difficult it will be to make his place 

 good. But I will strive to serve you to the best of my ability, and 

 by your concurrent aid and su23port, I am confident that we can 

 make this organization — what its early founders intended it should 

 be — an active and efficient suj^porter (in the highest, and best, and 

 broadest sense,) of good farming, good farms and good farmers ; in 

 fact, to do all it can do to educate the men who till the earth to 

 do so intelligently; to give their true rank and j^osition among 

 their fellows, of whatever calling, and to endow this form of labor 

 with all the rights and immunities of every other form of labor. 

 This cultivation of tlie earth stands in importance not one whit 

 behind any other Avork ; and the man or woman whose brow is 

 bronzed by the sun of these open fields, is the peer of any man in 

 our midst. The idea of this society is, and should be, first and 

 foremost, to dignify this form of labor and stand loyal to its gran- 

 deur — there, then, is the place for groAvth of good farms, the best 



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