KEPORTS FROM COUNTY SOCIETJES. 577 



bo done on such occasions that all will admit has no connection witli ar^riculture or 

 any other industry. In no case would it Ije excusable for the Society to permit under 

 its auspices anything tiiat would tend to corrupt the public morals, but we arc allud- 

 in<? now more particularly to things not harmful in themselves but simply foolish or 

 ridiculous, such as climl)ing a greased pole, running a sack race, catching a greased 

 pig, etc., etc., — anything that will make us laugh or cry for the moment and after- 

 wards make it5 ashamed of our silliness every time we recall the fact. 



Some such things may perhaps be temporarily tolerated in the interests of revenue, 

 but should be regarded as blemishes that will be left behind and forgotton in the 

 society's more perfect stage. Make the fair all that it can be made as an exhibition 

 of the most perfect specimens of grains and roots, flowers and fruits, horses, cattle, 

 sheep, hogs, poultry and such specimens of various improvements and articles of 

 household utility and adornment as are the best evidences of skill, taste and culture, 

 and I believe all who visit it will lind in the Jair itself the recreation and amusement 

 that they most desire. It has been well remarked that the ''legitimate results of 

 wisely applied industry are not restricted and commonplace and unattractive. They 

 tire valuable enough to command attention, various enough to awaken interest, cur- 

 ious enough to allure, beautiful enough to please, complicated enough to make peo- 

 ple think, and substantial enough to satisfy. No intelligent man or woman, or child 

 ever tires of examining the summers beauties or the autumn's bounties, ever ceases 

 to admire the wonderful results of culture or to love the works of taste and skill. 



"Neither the fragrance of the lily and rose nor the the fair proportions and skill- 

 ful arrangement of the ripened corn, nor the ruddy or golden or white colors and 

 strange forms of edible roots, nor the tempting sweetness and aroma of delicious 

 grapes and pears ever palls or cloys. And the unsolved mystery will interest our 

 ■children as it does us, how such beauty and purity and perfection can come forth 

 from the unseemly ground." 



Again, I am of the opinion that an advance movement should be made to make the 

 annual fair more of an educator, at least in the art if not in the science of farming. 



County societies should bear in mind that the State has made provision for the 

 publication of the more important results of their labors, so that whatever informa- 

 tion of value there may be connected with these results may benefit not onlj^ the 

 locality where they have been obtained, but also the whole State. A fair should 

 never fail to develop results and facts worthy of permanent record in the annual 

 report of the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. But a small percentage 

 of these societies furnish anything for this report, and the greater proportion of 

 those that do furnish merely a bald statement of the financial condition of the society 

 and perhaps the number of entries at the fair and the number and amount of prem- 

 iums awarded. 



Some system should be adopted by which the facts connected with the production 

 of the article or animal on which a premium is given should be obtained for perma- 

 nent record. Suppose for example an exhibitor enters for competition a specimen 

 of some variety of potatoes. Let a card be attached giving the name of the variety, 

 the kind of soil on which it was raised, the method of culture, the time of planting 

 and harvesting, etc. And if that variety or specimen takes the premium, let the 

 awarding committee state in what particular quality or finalities it excelled the 

 other varieties or specimens entered. If it is an animal that takes the premium we 

 should know the breed, the method of its treatment, its peculiar points of excel- 

 lence wherein it Is more valuable tiian others— if it is a specimen of dairy produce; 

 we want to know not merely that Mr. A. took the first premium, but we want to 

 know what breed of cows he keeps, and what are their distinguishing characteristics, 

 what and how they are fed, and what is the cost of care and of feed as compared with 

 the income — also whatever information might be of value connected with the mak- 

 ing and preservation of the article. Such knowledge would be of great value, and it 

 should be the aim of every agricultural society to obtain and disseminate it. " Our 

 progress in agriculture," says Mr. Klippart, of Ohio, "' depends entirely upon the 

 accumulation and dissemination of authentic facts. The Germans and their descend- 

 ants the Lowland Scotch have made more raoid progress in agriculture than any 

 other nation. They too encountered the same difficulties in obtaining precise and well 

 authenticated information, and therefore adopted a different sj-steni in part. They 

 retained the system of prizes or pi-emiums; but instead of having a miscellaneous 

 exhibition, they held in one locality an exhibition of horses, in another of cattle, and 

 so on. The committees are paid for their services; their reports are able documents, 

 and I am free to confess that I have learned more witli regard to special topics from 

 these committee reports than I have from agricultural text books. Here we practi- 

 cally ignore all committee reports." He adds: "I mention those things not in a 



