THE AK!NTTAL FAIE OF 1886. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



The Seventeenth Annual Fair of the Michigan State Horticultural Society 

 was held in the city of Jackson September 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 1886, in 

 conjunction with the State Agricultural Society. 



The hall devoted to the fruit exhibit the previous year in Kalamazoo was 

 removed to Jackson and put up in very good shape except the roof, which 

 was not well suited to a rainy week. The hall faced the east, and flat tables 

 extended along either side for fruits, while the center was arranged so as to 

 show bedding plants upon a dais raised a foot above the level of the ground 

 and protected by a rail at the edge. The plant exhibit was mostly arranged 

 at the west end of the hall upon a raised platform with shelving which 

 allowed the plants to be so adjusted as to make a beautiful background of 

 color. But there was room in our hall for only a small part of the plant 

 exhibit, so that a considerable number of exhibits in this line were used to 

 adorn the main hall of the Agricultural Society and the President's office. 

 This is a very attractive arrangement for visitors but a very unfortunate one 

 for committees who have to pass upon the comparative merits of collections 

 eighty rods apart. 



HALL ORNAMENTATION. 



The General Superintendent, Mr. E. H. Scott, tastefully decorated the 

 hall with netting of various colors and had an appropriate sign painted 

 above the front entrance; so that, although the building itself was not 

 comely in its proportions, it was quite tastefully embellished and especially 

 attractive in its interior. 



ARRANGEMENT OF EXHIBITS. 



A brief review of the exhibits in the hall may be interesting. Passing in 

 at the east door the general collections were on the right hand extending the 

 whole length of the hall upon a table thirty inches in height and five feet in 

 breadth. At the west end of the hall was arranged two large plant exhibits 

 for a background and the single plates of fruit at the base, the whole upon 

 a raised platform two feet in height. Passing around to the south side, the 

 visitor was first attracted by an ornamental wall and table exhibit of horti- 

 cultural products by Mr. Elwood Graham, of Grand "Rapids ; then followed 

 in rapid succession special exhibits of apples, pears, peaches, plums and 



