the return of our annual festive occasion. This beautiful day-this large assemblage of friends and neighbors the fine display of domestic animals, and the unusually rich one of fruits and flowers in yonder hall, are all auspicious omens. Let us then together take courage for the future. Let us be enthusiastic in our work, making the most of our circumstances,-ever ready to stand firmly for the right, for morality, for temperance, for good and wholesome laws,-not being deceived by the promises of politicians and demagogues; then shall our future be even more prosperous than the past, and we be proverbially the strength and hope of the nation.

CATTLE SHOW AND-FAIR.

The Show was held at Lawrence, Sept. 24th and 25th, 1878. It was very largely attended on both days. The show of Stock was on the Essex Company's grounds, near the Merrimac River. The exhibition of Fruit, Domestic Manufactures, etc., at City Hall, and Vegetables in a tent adjoining. The entries in the several departments were as follows:STOCK, ETC.

The annual meeting of the Society was held at the Court House, and was fully attended. Benj. P. Ware, the President, in the Chair. The officers chosen, as will appear in another place in this volume, were a president, four vice presidents, and a secretary, the trustees having been previously chosen by the members in their several towns, according to an amendment to the Constitution of the Society, adopted last year.

An unusual number of members have died during the year. Among those who have occupied prominent positions in the government of the society may be mentioned Hons. Allen W. Dodge of Hamilton, and Daniel H. Stickney of Groveland, Dr. Joseph Kittredge of North Andover, and Samuel C. Pitman of Swampscott.

Among other members-Benj. Haskell, M. D., Eben Pool of Rockport, the latter having been a member for over fifty years, and Samuel Preston of Danvers.

Rev. O. S. Butler, of Georgetown, presented resolutions on the death and character of Allen W. Dodge and D. H. Stickney, with the following remarks :—

MR. PRESIDENT:-It has been our custom since the earliest history of our society, at its annual meeting, to mark with suitable resolve and reference the decease of our official members. During the past year, two of our official members have died, the Hon. Allen W. Dodge and the Hon. D. H. Stickney. It seems to me eminently proper that we should stop a moment at this juncture of our business and record with tearful interest our just estimate of their lives and characters.

We have come up to our annual feast; we shall take each other by the hand; we shall look into the faces of these stalwart men; we shall walk among the flocks and herds of our noble animals; we shall go into the hall across the way and gaze with unmingled delight upon fruit and flowers, as well as the handiwork of man and maiden. But the noble, manly form, the genial, glowing countenance, the words of wisdom and sparkling wit, of our old friend and co-laborer, will not be seen or heard among the living, for Allen W. Dodge is no more here.

And we shall nowhere meet our familiar and loving friend, D. H. Stickney. That tall and graceful form is low in the dust. No, my fellow laborers, they are not here; they have entered upon a higher and nobler life, and are now engaged in the activities of the great beyond.

At the request of the officers of the society, I have reluctantly consented to prepare and present to your attention the following resolutions, as expressive of our regard and esteem for these our brethren, whose loss we greatly deplore:

The Essex Agricultural Society has learned with profound sorrow of the decease of two of its official members, during the past year, the Hon. Allen W. Dodge and the Hon. D. H. Stickney. In view of this sad bereavement it is therefore resolved :

:

First, That we recognize the goodness of our Heavenly Father in giving unto us such honorable and useful lives, as well as we do His hand in that mysterious providence that has removed them from our midst.

Second, That we recognize and record our highest appreciation of the service rendered to our Society in particular, and the cause of

agriculture in general, in the county and state, both in their private membership of the society, and in their official capacity so long and so faithfully filled,-Mr. Dodge having served the Society as Trustee, Orator, Secretary and President, and Mr. Stickney as Trustee and Vice-President.

Third, That we recognize with unmingled pleasure, their ardent love of agriculture, horticulture and floriculture, in all their refining and elevating influences, that invite our admiration and excite our emulation.

Fourth, That as man is more than his accidents, so the purity of their lives and the true nobility of their natures, have impressed us with their worth while living, and of our irreparable loss in their death.

Fifth, That we tender to their bereaved families our warmest sympathies, and commend them to the mercy of our God, and to the hopes and relationship of the world to come.

Sixth, That a copy of these resolutions be placed on the records of the society, and a copy sent to the families of the deceased members.

After presenting the above resolutions Mr. Butler proceeded to say :

Mr. Dodge was my friend, long cherished and dearly beloved, the first to turn my attention and interest towards this society, in whose prosperity and success he took so great an interest. For from his earliest years he showed a fondness for agriculture, horticulture and floriculture. His fondness for these pursuits grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength, so that when quite a young man he became a member of this then young but growing society, which relation continued until his death.

Among the early compeers and fellow-laborers were the Hon. Daniel P. King, Hon. James H. Duncan, Hon. John W. Proctor, Hon. Joseph Howe, Dr. Andrew Nichols, Gen. William Sutton, and Gen. Josiah Newball.

Such was his interest and activity in the cause of agriculture, that as early as 1842 he was invited to deliver the annual address before the society, which he did, to their delight and satisfaction. The subject of the address was "The cultivation of the apple," a subject upon which he was thoroughly conversant at that time, and at the time of his death there was no man in the county so well informed in regard to the