508 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



attended tlie fairs, liave exhibited tlieir stock, their farming 

 implements, their fruit, their flowers, the produce of their farms, 

 the handiwork of their wives and daughters, in such profusion, 

 that every exhibition of the Society, from first to the last, has 

 been a complete success. 



The last annual fair, held at Washington Hollow on the 23d 

 and 24th of September, 1856, was no exception; on the contrary, 

 the attendance and receipts were greater than ever before, and the 

 exhibition itself was, in the whole, fully equal to any former one. 

 In some respects it excelled, in others it fell short; but all were 

 agreed that the articles shown at our fairs are improving in qual- 

 ity from year to year. All the animals of the last exhibition 

 were evidently far superior to those of the first. The vegetables, 

 grain, fruit, flowers, produce of dairy, farm implements, domestic 

 manufactures and needle work, exceeded, in point of excellence 

 and arrangement, that of any former one. 



In the stock department, tlie number of cattle entered was as fol- 

 lows : Short-horns, 26 ; Bevons, 3 ; Herefords, 1 ; Ayrshires, 7 ; native 

 and cross-blood cattle, 35; working cattle, 46; fat cattle, 8; horses 

 for all work, 69; thorough-bred horses, 2; jacks, 1 ; swine, 20; long- 

 wooled sheep, 29; middle wool, 18; Merino, 16; Saxon, 17; cross 

 blood and common, 19; fat sheep, 8. The Short-horns were 

 considered very superior, many of them having been bred from 

 the best imported animals. The farmers of the county have 

 become thoroughly aroused to the importance of improvement in 

 domestic animals, and Short-horn cattle seem to get a full share 

 of their attention. It can be said with perfect safety that in no 

 county of the Union has more money been expended for importa- 

 tion and improvement of Short-horn cattle than in this; not only 

 men of wealth but many of moderate means are extensively and 

 successfully engaged in this branch of agriculture. Other kinds 

 of thorough-bred cattle are also receiving attention. Those 

 exhibited were superior animals, but judging from the number 

 entered, they are not so extensively bred as the Short-horns. The 

 natives and cross breeds were also very good. Many farmers 

 who have not the means or are not disposed to engage in breeding 

 full-blooded stock, have, by a judicious system of crossing and 

 good keeping, succeeded in rearing a race of animals far superior 

 to those of twenty years since. The fat cattle, although not 



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