170 noAi;n ok agriculture. 



thus softening provincial and national jealousies and animosities; It 

 l)rought into one exhibition the products ot hands and minds of these 

 vai'ions people, it open(>d up a highway for commerce and trade, as no 

 oilier agency had been able to accomplish. In tliesc times when these 

 advance guards of civilization may go almost where they will, it is 

 dithcult to conceive how cruelly they were liampered in lliose. What 

 with pirates, "rovers," "sea wolves,"' and "sealteggers" talcing all and 

 scuttling the ship at sea, and tariff, imposts,' tolls, duties, lines and out- 

 right robberies; taking all save a modicum upon land, none save the 

 liardiest and the most necessitous Mould assay enterprises so full of 

 hazard. To the merchant and trader, then, the fair came as an inesti- 

 mable blessing; authorized by the decree of monarch and powerful nol)Ie, 

 protection and immunity were extended to itll coming or going to or from 

 such, and anyone hindering, did so at his peril. Not only was the person 

 of the merchant or trader protected, but his goods and belongings were 

 exempt froiu all duties and lines, etc.; so such relief was found for 

 both as had not been known for centuries; and on the other hand, rulers 

 began to find great advantage accruing to their dominions by reason of 

 the consequent influx of trade, and so the fair became more widely 

 recognized and patronized and was granted more privileges, and violence 

 and oppressive exactions declined correspondingly. 



A study of tlie history of fairs slunvs us that the period of their 

 existence is not necessarily a limited one, since those of Beaucaire and 

 St. Bartholomew continued through many centuries. It shows, however, 

 that evolution is a constant accompaniment and a necessity to perpetuity. 

 Thus, the religious and political gatherings and tlie slave market, gave 

 way to the more modern features; w^hen commerce had found an open 

 way which it might pursue unmolested, and social intercourse had been 

 established between people, then another evolution took place, and the 

 fair took another phase, more nearly resembling the present one. 



Now, however, the agriculturist, the horticulturist, the manufacturer 

 and the artisan have Ijeen taught, by the oljjects presented by the fair, 

 the same lessons, with but little variation, over and over, until but little 

 remains to be done in that direction. Interest in the big pumpkin, the 

 tall coru, the prize bull, even tlie 2:20 trot, have palled by repetition. 

 Shall the fair, having accomplished all it can do, pass out of existence, 

 or shall it renew its potency. 



The great majority of our people have seen specimens of the finest 

 stock, and the finest products of farm, of orchard, of loom, of mine and 

 of shops, but are these possessed as generally as might be, and may not 

 our fairs become valuable agencies, as do the fairs of Falkirk, of 

 Ballin-asloe, and HoAvden? In fact, may they not, to some extent, resolve 

 themselves into j^reat annual markets, whose material is gxiaranteed and 

 sold at rates mutually advantageous to buyer and seller? 



It is said abroad that the American people work too hard and give 



