STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 215 



the liability of breakage ; and it is claimed that the brilliancy of these 

 mirrors is superior to that of those which have undergone long voyages. 

 The quicksilver used was produced in this State. 



E. C. Bickford & Co., of San Francisco, exhibited Packard's patent 

 traction gate, which runs on two rollers, first and second space. The 

 gate can be lifted entirely off, or raised to any desired height, so as to 

 let small stock pass under. 



Friend & Terry, of Saci-amento, exhibited a giant board, measuring 

 six feet and a half in width and about thirteen feet in length. 



The Parrish Soap Works, of San Francisco, exhibited a large quantity 

 of a new kind of soap, called Kane's Condensed Soap, for which is 

 claimed cleansing powers superior to any other soap. 



J. Weichart, of San Francisco, exhibited a new invention to attach 

 sections on reaping and mowing bars without rivets, for which it is 

 claimed that it enables sections to be taken off, ground in better style, 

 in much less time, and without any danger of getting the bar out of 

 shape. 



P. J. Devine, of San Francisco, exhibited a beautiful ideal bust of 

 " California." The figure was that of a young, hopeful, earnest maiden. 

 The placidity of her countenance betokens that she realizes that there 

 is a grand future before her, while her thoughtful eyes and brow show 

 that she possesses uncommon depth of feeling. 



M. Haseberg, of Sacramento, showed a box of mammoth sized Cali- 

 fornia almonds in the upper ball, near the cocoons. These almonds are 

 as large as ordinary hen's eggs, but, of course, are flatter. 



David F. Hall, proprietor of the Silkworm Home Cocoonery, contri- 

 buted a very pretty basket of flowers made from perforated cocoons by 

 Mrs. Y. E. Howard, of San Gabriel, Los Angeles County. These flowers 

 were quite an attractive novelty. 



W. Fern, of Sacramento, exhibited in the lower hall several fine speci- 

 mens of different varieties of potatoes, beans, cabbages, squashes, apples, 

 tomatoes, etc. We had sufficient curiosity to have some of these 

 weighed in our presence, and, picking up a tomato, found that it weighed 

 one pound four and a half ounces. One of the apples, a very little 

 larger than the average of its companions in a box, weighed one pound 

 and three-quarters, and was five inches in diameter. What nice apples 

 these would be for boys to take to school ; how many " bites" they could 

 afford to give away ! The scale showed that a sugar-beet placed upon 

 it weighed fifty pounds. "That can't be beat," exclaimed an enthusi- 

 astic looker-on. But it was. 



George Cone, of Sacramento County, had in the lower hall a number 

 of large squashes and fine muskmelons. The largest squash on his stand, 

 and the largest in the Pavilion, weighed one hundred and thirty-five 

 pounds. 



Ira S. Bamber, of Placerville, in the lower hall, exhibited several 

 plates full of pears, plums, grapes, apples, peaches, figs, prunes, necta- 

 rines, etc The peaches were very large and luscious looking, and three 

 taken promiscuously from the lot weighed two pounds and two ounces. 



E. G. Bangham, of Lassen County, exhibited, in the lower hall, speci- 

 mens of patent pruning shears. By the application of double levei-age, 

 a great amount of pressure and labor is saved, and a smoother cut can 

 be given than by ordinary shears. 



George E. Cramer exhibited, in the lower hall, a patent dumping 

 wagon. By means of a level? the control of which is convenient to the 

 driver's hand, the bed of the wagon is lifted by an upward wheel upon 



