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NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



other states, and even from the most distant 

 parts of the Union. As many as 30,000 or 

 40,000 persons are frequently present. It 

 is a fact, not to be denied, that those per- 

 sons have frequently returned home com- 

 pletely and justly disappointed in these ex- 

 hibitions, — disappointed in the agreggate 

 amount of articles shown, — disappointed in 

 their quality, — and, most of all, disappoint- 

 ed in the arrangement and mode of con- 

 ducting the fair. 



Last year, this was especially the case. 

 In some respects, as we learned from a 

 large number of those who attended the 

 exhibition, the agricultural display was not 

 superior to that of many county societies; 

 while the horticultural show was inferior, 

 in the variety and quality of the products, 

 to that of many weekly exhibitions of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In 

 the latter department, indeed, the shows of 

 the state society have been deteriorating 

 for several years past, until they reached a 

 point at Saratoga quite below criticism. 



We mention this, not to censure the offi- 

 cers of the society, or the committees of 

 management, all of whom, on the contrary, 

 deserve praise for the efforts made by them 

 to render the exhibitions as complete as 

 possible ; but to point out what, in our 

 humble judgment, is a capital error in the 

 regulations of the society, and which we 

 predict, so long as it remains in force, will 

 effectually prevent its annual fairs from 

 fairly representing the agricultural skill 

 and resources of the state ; in fact, from 

 being anything more than a large, discor- 

 dant, second or third-rate show, equally un- 

 satisfactory to the exhibitor and the spectator. 



We allude, of course, to that regulation 

 of the society which compels it to change 

 the locality of its annual fair, every season, 

 from Albany to Auburn, Rochester, Syra- 

 cuse, Saratoga, &c. &c. 



Every one at all familiar with the ma- 

 nagement of those agricultural or horticul- 

 tural societies, whose shows are really 

 satisfactory, very well knows that the di- 

 rection or management of these exhibitions 

 is a matter of much acquired skill and ex- 

 perience; that it is always done by a few per- 

 sons, thoroughly familiar from long prac- 

 tice with the necessary details, so that all 

 mistakes, confusion and oversights are pre- 

 vented ; so that every valuable product, 

 within the reach of the society, is drawn out 

 for exhibition, and all indifferent or un- 

 worthy articles are at once rejected by 

 competent judges. In other words, to con- 

 duct a great fair of this kind well, it is in- 

 dispensable that the working committees 

 should be persons thormcghly experienced, 

 and fully compete7it to the task in hand. 



Now what is the state of things at the 

 state shows ? Exactly the reverse of all 

 this. One year, for instance, the fair is 

 held at Albany. Great efforts are made; 

 a large quantity of farm and garden pro- 

 ducts are brought together, a good portion 

 of which is, however, of very indifferent 

 quality, — while from proper inducements 

 not having been presented, a great deal of 

 materiel of the first class, has not been 

 brought out at all. The committees ap- 

 pointed are almost all new to their task, — 

 some entirely unfit for it, some not working 

 men, and therefore useless, — and nearly all 

 entirely inexperienced, and therefore in- 

 competent. The result is, that the fair is 

 indifferently arranged, great numbers of ex- 

 hibitors are dissatisfied, and the next year 

 withhold their articles altogether, to the 

 great injury of the subsequent shows. 



By the time the Fair is over, those of the 

 committee who are really working men, 

 have found out the short-comings of the 

 exhibitions and have seen the Aveak points 

 of their own management ; have ascertained 



