The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-02-04
Meeting Of the Addison County Agri-
cultural Society.

xnNvhiuk vi tht kAouiboh 0SeAsy NkAE
cultural Society.
The official report Of the proceedings
Of the Addison County Agricultural So
sieiy, at i,s annual meeting on Wednes.
day last. appears Oh our first page. The
number in Attendance, IRON the different
psrts Of the county, showed that lively
interest continue. to he felt by our FAR
mer, in this County institution. which
10 peculiarly their own. Most Of the
towns were represented, by substantial,
practical, and prosperous agrIculturists.
In several Of the towns, during the
the last year, there has been large in,
crease Of members, as compared with
The previous year, while in some there
has been falling off, leaving the aggre-
gate u trine less than in ls50-5l. The
average OF membership, during the last
seven years. is 2i7. The highest num-
Der was in 1916. when there were 266
members. and the lowest ia lS47, when
;here were but $50. The number for
the past year va, Extraordinarily less,
probably. than it would have been, but
iur tho State Fair, which vas held at the
same place but short time before
With suitable exertions Oh the part Of
I'll the Managers. we think the number
may be readily increased, fnr the pres,
ent year. to 800.
An al,ersiion Of the Constitution was
rlade, changing the time Of holding the
annual meeting from the fourth to the
third Wednesday in January The rea.
son of this Was the Inconvenience of
printing and forwarding the proceedings
Of The Society to the State Treasurer,
I" required by law. previously to the frs,
day Of February, after the fourth We'd.
nesday-espeeially when i, falls so late
as in the presen, year.
We regret the failure Of the commits
tee. appointed 4, the last meeting, to re-
port ON the permanent location Of the
Fair. 1t seems 10 be conceded, on all
hands. that permanency in this matter is
Utmost indispensable 10 the success. Of
the Society. An amendment Of the
Constitution, to this effect, was carried
by = nearly unanimous vote. The place,
only, was left to he determined by the
BOARD Of Managers. We think this a
very fair d.posa! Of the question, and
We doubt not the determination Of the
Board. whatever it may be, " i'll he cheer.
fully scquiesced in by all concerned.
An intimation having been made by
one Of The members present that The
next State Fair nigh, be held in this
County, wish was expressed on the part
Of several that The State and County
Fairs might be combined. The pre-
valllng opinion, however, seemed to be
in favor Of keeping the two societies al
together distinct, though no direct vote
was taken IN the subject.
After some discussion, the President
stated that he saw The Secreiar, Of the
State Society in the room. and under>
stood that he had some commune ion
TO make to this Society. J. A. Beck
WITH, Esq, then rose aud said:
twas known 10 most Of those present
that he MAS not an agriculiurist, and he
had no interest in farming, save as il
was connected with the reputation OF his
Ralive State. Vermont had cumpara.
lively no commerce, no manufactures
and M arts. She was small and hut
little known. All the reputation she
sould have, aside from her schools Of
learning, was in Agriculture. His pride,
therefore, led him to feel deeply inter-
ssied that the reputation Of Vermont
should be high in this particular. This
pride had led him to accept an office Of
some care in the State Society which
had been accidentally conferred upon
him. The grea, means Of acquiring
aud maintaining high farming charac'
ter abroad. was by Fairs and Genera
Exhibitions. The records Of the late
census showed that Vermont was a grea
producing slate, and would compare fa
scrably with any equal portion of terri
tory in the United States. We haze al
the material for one of the finest u xpo
fnIons of Animals ever held. Ia ever,
other state IN The Union, with any pre-
tensions TO high agricultural merit. the,
had State Societies. IL had eYen beef
thought worthy the attention Of ia,
world. and all chrisiendom had. durin,
The past rear, testified To the worth q
such exhibitions by holding World
Fair. II is true, there was 10 be foun'
respectable body Of men. constituting
our State Legislature. Who differed will
the rest Of mankind on this subject
They had virtually said that tic worl,
a. large ia mistaken on this point. and
chatter and appropriation had been de
MED 10 The farmers who asked for them
a. only remained Tor the farmers 20 sa