EDITOR'S TABLE. 



compelled to remain two days before tliey could open or unpack them. Of course, many 

 of the most mature fruits and perishable flowers were ruined. But this was not all : when 

 the tent was raised, there was a perfect scramble for places, and the staging erected was 

 found not more than half extensive enough to admit of the proper display of the objects 

 brought for exhibition ; large quantities of botk fruits and flowers were consequently never 

 shown, and confusion and disappointment for a time reigned supreme. 



We are sorry for this backward step of our great Society, because it has certainly given 

 it a severe blow ; and there was no excuse whatever for it, but downright carelessness on 

 the part of those whose duty it was to see the arrangements made. "We hope for better in 

 the future ; but really, until there be among the directors of this Society at least one man 

 as much interested in horticulture as there are now many in other departments, we can not 

 hope to see a well ordered horticultural display at our State Fairs. 



The managers of the Society must be well aware that Floral Hall has always been among 

 the leading attractions of these Fairs. Let any one watch the crowd entering the gates, 

 and they will see a steady stream moving toward the tent of fruits and flowers. That 

 seems to be the great center ; and the reason why it is so, is that the articles there dis- 

 played are far more rare and, to the multitude, more interesting than the finest Shorthorns 

 or Devons, or Shanghae fowls, or Black Hawk horses. These are all special departments, 

 and have their special admirers ; but every man, woman, and child, who enters the gates, 

 loves fruits and flowers, and knowing or supposing that the finest in the State are assem- 

 bled in Floral Hall, there they must first go. 



If this department of the orchard and the garden be allowed to dwindle down, and 

 finally die out, as it evidently will under the present system, these State Fairs will be 

 divested of one of their most interesting features, as the receipts will soon give evidence. 

 By sustaining it well, the Society will not merely consult its own interests, but it will 

 assist greatly in educating the public taste, and in promoting a branch of culture which has 

 a most important bearing upon the prosperity of the country, ^lie horticultural depart- 

 ment of the State Agricultural Society has never been well managed, for the reason, we 

 suppose, as we have already stated, that no one in its councils has felt more than the gen- 

 eral interest in the subject which all intelligent farmers and country gentlemen feel. It 

 was stated at Saratoga, by a gentleman who should know, and who is very accurate in his 

 statements, that one season the Floral Hall cost about $1,000, and the same season the hor- 

 ticultural premiums offered amounted to about $17, all told! 



But after all, the show was a good one — in many respects one of the best the Society 

 has yet made. The display of fruit was exceedingly interesting and instructive. Visitors, 

 a? they passed around, seemed at once surprised and delighted. It afforded very gratifying 

 evidence of the progress we are making in fruit culture. Many of the collections were rare 

 and valuable, the specimens unusually fine, and, with a few exceptions, accurately named 

 and tastefully exhibited. 



Among amateurs, the collection of D. T. Vail, Esq., of Troy, had no rival ; it embraced 

 some eighty varieties of pears, remarkably well grown, and including many of the finest 

 new sorts — such as DucTiesse (T Orleans, BeuiTe iVAnjou, Beurre Superfin, &c. Probably 

 no other amateur cultivator in this State could bring forward such a collection. 



The nurserymen made a very spirited and creditable display. Messrs. IIovet & Co., of 

 Boston, sent a fine collection of 150 varieties of pears. This, we believe, was the only for- 

 eign contribution. Messrs. A. Saul »fe Co., of Ncwburgh ; Wilson, Thorbukjt, & Teller, 

 of Albany ; Thoep, Smith, UANcnExr, «& Co., of Syracuse ; John Mokse, of Cayuga ; T. C. 



